A Creek Swept Clean! This is a statement we can certainly make following our eighth annual “Sweep the Creek” event held on Saturday and Sunday, September 26-27, 2009. Approximately 300 volunteers gathered at nine sites along the creek to collect about 250 bags of trash, not to mention two bicycles, chicken wire, an unhatched goose egg, swing set, scooter, printer, and a wheelchair. Our volunteers included individuals; families; and several groups, including the Parkland Swim Team, CIVICUS program at the University of Maryland, Girl Scout Cadette Troop 550, Burtonsville Webelos Cub Scout Pack 480, and Montgomery College and Blair High School students.

Our local Sweep was part of the larger “National Public Lands Day,” the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. So, feet wet and arms loaded full, we were part of the larger web, tending and reclaiming our small, but vibrant, slice of the wild.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the Sweep a success, by cleaning the creek or working behind the scenes to make it all happen. Stay tuned for information about our next sweep in Spring 2010.

Patton Stephens
New Sweep Coordinator and Litter Committee Chair.