Sweep the Creek Spring 2014

We Swept It Clean!

While some wondered if it was too early in April, and others were still thawing out from our LONG winter, 387 volunteers turned out to Sweep the Creek on April 5-6, 2014. As hinted at by our photos, volunteers young and old pitched in, once again, to clean up our beloved creek and ready it for enjoyment in the upcoming warmer months.

This large group of volunteers picked up about 296 bags of trash and 17 bags of recycling, which were picked up roadside afterwards by Montgomery County Parks (thanks to Henry Coppola for arranging this once again).

While it’s not official, it seemed like we had a record number of groups, including:

Girl Scout Troops 379, 1273, and 1999
Cub Scout Packs 249, 33, 53, 204, 478, 275, 499 and 205
Campaign team of Will Jawando
Brownie Troop from Flora M. Singer Elementary School
ESOL Honors Club at Northwood High School
Tallitos Mayas (part of Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots Movement)
Maryland University Terp Service Group
Silver Spring Outdoors Meet-up
Good Deeds Day Group
Montgomery College

We learned from our groups that April 6, 2014, was worldwide “Good Deeds Day,” which we were happy to be part of without knowing in advance that we were!

While none of our findings was too extraordinary, some of the more unusual finds included:

2 skateboards
a rugged old metal music stand
3 large (waterlogged) bags of clothing
1 bag of china/cups
10 foot long thin metal pipe
debit card
Maryland license plate from 1980
a bag of edible fruit
wheel barrow
lawn chair

The Sweep the Creek is a collaborative effort made possible by many, including our Section Stewards, Tablers, Outreach Team, Kiosk Marketers, Photographer, Webmaster, Montgomery Parks and our volunteers Sweepers. Thank you to everyone – what else can we say!

Patton Stephens – Sweep Coordinator