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Roswell volunteers haul out hundreds of pounds of trash
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| | | Boy Scouts, students from several schools, Roswell’s mayor and city staff, plus other volunteers hauled out hundreds of pounds of trash from the banks of the Chattahoochee and several of its tributaries (click for larger version) | |
October 28, 2009
At least 50 people didn't let a month-long delay stop them from volunteering for the Rivers Alive River Cleanup Oct. 24. The event was sponsored by Keep Roswell Beautiful and the Roswell Kiwanis Club.
In mid-September, the Chattahoochee River and the many tributary creeks feeding into it were overflowing their banks, flooding the surrounding area. Riverside Park, the starting point for the cleanup, was underwater, and roads including Riverside Drive and Azaela Drive were flooded, as well. The Rivers Alive Festival had to be postponed.
So the number of volunteers dipped quite a bit with the change in dates, but for those steadfast volunteers, which included students from High Meadows School and Amana Academy — and their parents — plus Boy Scouts from Troop 1776, there was plenty of trash to haul. The usual plastic bottles and soft drink cans filled the garbage bags and dumpsters at the park, with tires, hubcaps, large metal and PVC pipes, signs, shoes and seemingly every other type of trash imaginable hauled away from the streams and nearby roads.
Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, Councilmen Ken Tolleson and Jerry Orlans and Alpharetta Mayor Pro Tem Jim Paine helped in the cleanup and stayed around for the annual Duck Derby race down Big Creek on Oxbo Road. This year's race was more of a sprint as the higher waters and flood debris made it more dangerous for the plastic duck "catchers" to be too far downstream.
Duck rentals of $3 for one or $5 for two earned participants a chance at the $150 first prize and $100 second prize for picking the fastest ducks down the river.
 View images.
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