Daily Hampshire Gazette – 'Making a positive impact on our rivers': Source to Sea Cleanup returns this weekend

The Source to Sea Cleanup has provided valuable service to the Connecticut River Valley since its inception in 1997. And it can issue receipts.

Nearly 40,000 volunteers removed 1,100 tons of trash, nearly 14,000 tires and 144,000 beverage containers in hopes of providing cleaner water and healthier habitats across the 410-mile watershed in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The annual event has long been held in conjunction with the Green River Cleanup, which was founded 21 years ago and is part of the larger Franklin County Rivers Cleanup. This year's joint campaign is planned for the weekend of September 28th.

“There is great enthusiasm for this year’s cleanup,” said Diana Chaplin, communications director for the Connecticut River Conservancy. “Not only is this a great way to have a positive impact on our rivers and habitats, it is also a truly fun experience to meet with community members, share stories and work together toward a common goal.”

This time, at least 80 groups registered across the watershed, and the nonprofit Connecticut River Conservancy had at least 100 groups and 1,000 volunteers participate in 2023. These numbers are expected to be exceeded this year.

Anyone interested can register for a Source to Sea Cleanup site by viewing a map at tinyurl.com/58b5nt26.

Among the groups in Hampshire County sponsoring a cleanup effort is the Fort River Watershed Association, which will bring together volunteers of all ages at Groff Park from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday to clean up the river's watershed.

The Fort River watershed is the longest tributary of the Connecticut River and flows through portions of Amherst, Shutesbury, Pelham, Belchertown, and Hadley. It is important for the free passage of fish, is home to the endangered dwarf wedge mussel, and contributes to drinking water in Amherst and Hadley.

For more information, visit fortriver.org/cleanup.

Other cleanups in Hampshire County include:

■Three in Northampton, starting Friday with the Northampton Meadows and Pedal People cleanup from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Meet at the Sheldon Field parking lot on Old Ferry Road. On Saturday, volunteers will meet at Packaging Corporation on Mount Tom Road from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and spread out to clean up the Oxbow Road area. Also on Saturday, the First Hampshire Green Team and WRSI will meet at the Northampton Airport parking lot on Old Ferry Road from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then spread out to help clean up the river along the Meadows.

■There are two cleanups taking place in South Hadley, starting Friday with the Beachgrounds Park Cleanup from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The meeting point is the parking lot behind the sports fields. On Saturday, the South Hadley Falls Neighborhood Association will meet from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot on Main Street in South Hadley Falls, across from St. Patrick's Church, then disperse to clean up Fisherman's Path below the Route 116 bridge .

■William Raveis Real Estate Group meets at Puffer's Pond in Amherst on Friday from 3 to 6 p.m

■Friends of Lake Wallace will meet Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. to clean up Lake Wallace in Belchertown

■Two cleanups are planned in Easthampton. The Easthampton Oxbow cleanup will take place Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the intersection of Fort Hill Road and Old Springfield Road near the Mass Audubon Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. There will also be a River Roads Festival Cleanup on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at Millside Park in Easthampton, where volunteers are coming together to clean up seven sites across the city.

Family affair

For some, cleaning up is a family affair, including Susan Sharbaugh of Erving and her granddaughter Gracie Rosenberg. Sharbaugh said she got involved at least 20 years ago because she cares about the health of the county's rivers. She has made cleaning up an annual habit and invited Rosenberg about 10 years ago.

“She was very excited to help out,” Sharbaugh said, adding that she didn’t have to convince her granddaughter. “Their comment was, ‘Absolutely! I'll be there to help.'”

Rosenberg, 20, said she jumped at the chance to volunteer alongside her grandmother and immediately felt the difference it made in the community.

“I'm very satisfied. I get to date a lot of great people,” she said. “I enjoy it every year, I really do.”

The environment is a particular concern and passion for Rosenberg, who is studying biology at Greenfield Community College. She said she pulled countless tires from the watershed and once found a purse containing an identification card that she gave to police.

Last year, Sharbaugh, 81, said she and Rosenberg were tasked with cleaning up the area around the former Railroad Salvage building in Turners Falls.

“It was a big task for my granddaughter and me,” she remembers. “It took about three hours.”

Sharbaugh said she found everything from coolers to chairs to sleeping bags.

Greenfield resident David Boles started the Green River Cleanup, now in its 21st year and currently averaging 250 to 300 volunteers. He was inspired when his son was part of an informal cleanup group of 10 GCC students organized by environmental science professor Brian Adams.

“There are just a tremendous number of groups that are committed to keeping the watershed clean,” Boles said.

Boles grew up in Niagara County in upstate New York, which he said had some of the most polluted waters in the country. But he moved to Greenfield about 45 years ago and marveled at the area's water quality.

“It made me want to stay here and realize how lucky we are because this quality doesn't exist in 90% of the rest of the country,” he said.

Beth Bazler, a senior land and compliance specialist with FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. who is helping organize a cleanup effort focused on the Gill-Montague area, said some of the more involved participants visited previously reported sites and it It seems as if almost 30 years of hard work have passed is paying off – because noticeably less waste has to be disposed of. She mentioned that volunteers had previously pulled a car out of the river in the Cabot Woods area of ​​Turners Falls. People have also found Christmas trees, children's toys and parts of dock floats.

“This year we are finding a lot of clean sites, which is great,” she said.

Sites that need your attention can be reported at tinyurl.com/nhdv9npm.

Reach Domenic Poli at: [email protected] or 413-930-4120.