I took on a section of the Great Willamette Cleanup this year – as the lead volunteer. It’s an event put on by Willamette Riverkeeper. In 2010 the cleanup stretched from Eugene to Portland, with over 500 volunteers. As an Advisory Board member with We Love Clean Rivers it was a responsibility to help out. It was no problem as I’ve led enough paddles to know how to organize a group! We were assigned the area near Dahl Beach / Meldrum Bar, which is right where the Clackamas River enters the Willamette River.
We met at about 9:00 a.m. and signed the usual liability waivers, and staged the boats down at Dahl Beach. When all had arrived we had 25 volunteers. Six canoes and two sit on tops. Our section was Goat Island to Cedar Island. I split the group into two pods and assigned Jessie Bader, my Paddle NW meetup organizer the 2nd pod. We gave the overview and safety talk and started on the beach. Then, we were to take on the ends of our stretch and work toward the middle.
We got tires!
We got blankets!
We got tarps!
Someone even left a suitcase complete with stuff inside!
Along the way we found a beetle probably realizing winter’s not to far away…
All in all, we grabbed canoefulls of stuff…and the Willamette was happier by the end of the day!
Thanks to everyone for lending a helping hand! We did a great job on October 2nd!
Cabin Fever Chronicles - Getting Outdoors with Rod 