Spring has officially arrived, Earth Day is just around the corner, and our April Community Beach Cleanup is slated for 9:30 AM, Saturday, April 26th. Coinciding with our cleanup is our support of the first annual state-long, Washington Coast Cleanup (read more at end of newsletter).
Our cleanup remains the same. Adopt-a-beach groups, the lifeblood of these efforts, go directly to their adopted beach sections and dig in. Individual volunteers are a major key to our success as well. Please journey to any of our major beach approaches (Seaview, Sid Snyder Drive, Bolstad Ave, Cranberry Rd, Klipsan Beach, Bay Ave in Ocean Park or Oysterville Rd) to find a cleanup coordinator ready to equip you with bags and quickly orient you to our task. Just wear comfortable clothing and shoes, bring gloves and expect our changeable, varied April weather.
A community potluck dinner at the Peninsula Senior Center on Friday evening (4/25), starting at 5 PM, gives all of us a chance to meet others vitally interested in the welfare of our beach, share a good meal between new and old friends, and learn more about our shoreline ecosystem.
Our speaker for the evening will begin about 5:30. Frank Wolfe will share some of his experiences during the 16 years he was a radio officer in the Merchant Marine. He will chat informally with us about standards U.S. ships vs. foreign ships have to maintain, cargo, all sorts of interesting things that go on at sea that eventually affect us. He has seen the great garbage patch in the ocean and watched the polar ice caps diminish over the years, and will try to answer all the questions we present to him. It should be a fascinating evening.
This evening also offers Adopt-a-Beach leaders the chance to collect supplies for the next day. If you are an Adopt-a-Beach leader and cannot get to this event, please connect with Shelly 665-5388 to get your supplies.
A FREE thank-you soup feed at the Peninsula Senior Center from noon to 2 PM offers a variety of delicious soups and goodies to ALL volunteers who participated in the cleanup in any way. It is a great time to meet other beach lovers who put some muscle behind their beliefs and to share stories of your morning’s adventure. In fact, if you have a great story that needs to be told, find Ellen Anderson, this newsletter editor, at the soup feed. I get my best stories there!
Earth Day, April 22, 2008
We can’t leave the subject of our April cleanup behind without respectfully recognizing Earth Day, April 22, 2008. This year especially, as the peoples around our Earth seriously wake up to the reality of our Earth’s health, the Grass Roots Garbage Gang salutes each and every volunteer who has done ANY act to save it. Count joining this cleanup effort as one of those acts.
Adopt-a-Beach Group in Your Future ??
First, we just cannot say enough about the contribution Adopt-a-Beach groups make to the beach cleanups. Have I mentioned lately that they are absolutely the lifeblood of these efforts ?? Having the assurance of these committed groups to designated sections of the beach allows us to build needed resources from that base. So, simply put, thanks to ALL Adopt-a-Beach groups for your sustained stewardship.
We can always use MORE Adopt-a-Beach groups, however. If you and your family, neighborhood, service group, interest group, church group, you-name-it-group could commit to cleaning a small section of beach in our three yearly cleanups, please talk to Shelly. And thanks for acting on your beliefs. A hearty welcome to our newest Adopt-A-Beach group, the Lighthouse Resort!
March in the Loyalty Days Parade
That’s right. The Grass Roots Garbage Gang will march in the Long Beach annual Loyalty Days Parade for the first time on Sunday, May 4th at 1 PM. We need more people marching down main street, Long Beach, WA, to make a splash on this first-time participation. Loyalty Days is a BIG event for this community, attended by many local residents and property owners here, just the kind to volunteer to make a sustaining commitment to our beach ecosystem. We hope to encourage these parade watchers on the south end of the Peninsula to join our efforts. PLEASE contact Shelly at 360-665-5388 or shelly@ourbeach.org if you can march along. A tailgate feed is planned for Noon at the parade gathering spot so your time commitment would be about Noon until roughly 2 PM.
July 5th Community Beach Cleanup Tradition Continues
Mark your July calendar (and spread the word!) for our largest beach cleanup of the year on Saturday morning, July 5th , again starting at 9:30 AM. Whenever July 4th occurs on a weekend day, we know the Peninsula just swells with people and partying. We will see thousands of revelers and lots of parties this July 4th weekend. And, sadly, an ugly beach left behind. Consider making this cleanup just a part of your July 4th traditions here. If ever we needed your help to restore the beach, it is THIS July 5th. More about the July cleanup in our next newsletter. Or visit www.ourbeach.org, our great website that I don’t mention enough, for more details now.
Grass Roots Garbage Gang a member of the Washington Clean Coast Alliance
We want to quickly familiarize you with the Washington Clean Coast Alliance and how the Grass Roots Garbage Gang fits into this new statewide group. The Grass Roots Garbage Gang is NOT going away. Our cleanups, and the events surrounding them, remain the same. Our mission and focus are unchanged. As a member of this new Alliance, however, we gain a greater view of beach litter, cleanup efforts and can share much of our learning from our seven-year history. We gain more statewide visibility via the Alliance’s website, http://www.coastsavers.org/. And we are hoping to gain some needed funding support. Alliance members include nonprofit organizations, community groups and government agencies all working together. Today, that consists of the Grass Roots Garbage Gang, Clallam Bay Lion’s Club, Northwest Interpretive Association, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Olympic National Park, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association and the Surfrider Foundation. The Alliance is currently only focusing on this April cleanup each year. But long-range planning calls for more frequent cleanups on state coastline, much like our multiple yearly Peninsula cleanups.
www.OurBeach.org
