2nd ANNUAL ARK. RIVER CLEANUP - FREE BREAKFAST IN NORTH LR

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

SATURDAY, October 5, 2013

Free breakfast, free T-shirt; gloves, bags, and GRABBERS provided by Keep North Little Rock Beautiful.

They need volunteers to collect trash along the shore, whether you are on foot or in your boat. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. at the Riverside RV Park pavilion in NLR's Riverfront Park. Keep Little Rock Beautiful will be working on the south side of the river out of Murray Park by the boat ramp; ADEQ is covering the Cook's Landing area. Full details can be found at the Keep North Little Rock Beautiful Facebook page or by emailing knlrb@aol.com.

ACC Central Chapter: This is your home turf!


Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[Half Ton]

BUMP

And a nice story http://www.thv11.com/news/article/28170 ... t-Cleanup-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wendy]

I'm not for sure where I need to show up with my kayak for this event - Murray Park or North River Landing next to Riverside RV Park? Or does it matter? Is anyone covering the river downtown from the Baring Cross Bridge to the Clinton Bridge? There wasn't a lot of details on the FB page. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Cowper]

There is information of who to contact here: http://www.keeparkansasbeautiful.com/in ... Itemid=101" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Basically all it says is: Phone: 501-350-8775 Email: knlrb@aol.com
Description:
In conjunction with the Arkansas River Cleanup as part of the Great Arkansas Cleanup, Keep North Little Rock Beautiful will be hosting a litter pickup event on the shorelines of the Arkansas River on October 5th, along with several other participating communities in AR. To learn more about how you can get involved, contact Randy Naylor!

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I was meeting someone else who is bringing a larger boat, so my plan was to just be there at whatever time he says. I think to find out more, you'll have to call them at the above number. It's a big river; I'll bet any stretch you would like to clean would be appreciated. One consideration would be if you're planning to be there for any lunch or snacks that might be served at the conclusion of the event; that might lead to a shorter trip near your launch site, vs. a downriver trip to clean an entire section from point A to point B.

[Wendy]

Thank-you! I will give them a call this morning. If I find out anything noteworthy, I will post it. Happy Cleaning!

[Cowper]

I'll look for you. I'll be in the boat with the big fan on the back. If we see you, we'll be happy to let you off-load whatever you've collected to make room for more.

[Deuce]

Sounds like my sixteen foot john boat would be perfect for this job. Too bad I still haven't fixed the motor from the April clean-up on Bayou Meto. Wendy was with me. Most fun I've had tearing up a motor in a while. Guess I could bring the party barge?

[Cowper]

OK, apparently since this is a 4 state event, the real deal is that there are multiple "cells" doing clean ups, just all on the same day (tomorrow). One cell is the one in downtown NLR, where they are doing the free breakfast thing.

The one I am joining, for lack of a better name, we'll call that the "ADEQ cell" because the main organizer is from ADEQ. Their original plan was to work from the Cooks Landing boat ramp, they are now scrambling because that got closed. There is no "free breakfast" being served; but they will be registering participants and handing out free T-shirts at the ADEQ offices in NLR. http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/home/maps.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Our plan is to go there at 7:45, register, get our T-shirts, and then head on over to the boat ramp.
http://goo.gl/maps/SHWsT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bryan tells me that the water where we are going IS deep enough for a party barge. Bring it on, that way we'll be able to get a couple of more folks if others want to join. If you have an awning we can sit out a rainstorm in, so much the better! Bryan has been "scouting" the area, and says there are some larger items like hot tubs that we can go after, so more lay-down room and carrying capacity might come in handy. After we get good and dirty, we can find someplace nice in LR to go eat.

If you want to confirm T-shirt sizes or have other questions, the ADEQ contact is Raven at 501-six8two-0022

[Wendy]

Thanks for the offer! My kayak won't hold much. I spoke with Randy Naylor, the coordinator, and he suggested I work in the area of the Burns Park boat ramp. He said its filthy (I can second that). I hope to get out there by 8:30. I will be looking for the boat with the big fan. Hope to see you there!

And as for you, Luke, just make sure you have that motor fixed by next April.

[Deuce]

Cool! I'd forgotten about the clean-up when I consented to join a fishing expedition below Remmel dam. However, since the clean-up ends early there's no reason I can't do both. I'll just have to resist the lure of TRT's commander in chief to stay later. If I can convince a certain fellow Dogtown resident to carry us and our canoes to Malvern in his new Frankenburb I'll leave the barge hooked to my truck and beg Mrs. Deuce or someone to take it home for me. And Wendy, not to worry. I've promised my nephew I'll have the trout boat ready for him by November. His old man makes him live down in Texas, so he has to come here for some culture. See y'all in the morning.

[Cowper]

OK, I found the folks I am going with are having to adjust plans somewhat due to the COE closing the Cook's Ferry boat ramp. (grrrrr - like a boat ramp requires constant monitoring by on-site personnel - normally it is just checked every so often by LEO's - but wait, they're still on duty so why..... never mind, of course it doesn't make sense....)

So we will be launching at the ramp where the Little Maumelle hits the river just above the Murray Lock and Dam (/ Big Dam Bridge). Our plan is to go to ADEQ at 7:45, pick up our tee shirts, and then drive around to the other ramp.
http://goo.gl/maps/Mo2zM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wendy, sounds like we'll be working different parts of the river this time, so see you next time!

[Wendy]

Okay, next time! Maybe the Federal Government will be running by then and you can launch from Cooks Landing.

[Cowper]

Well, we had a blast today! And made quite a haul. Participants included Bryan Hughbanks (chief organizer; he has been scouting the locations of major targets, brought the airboat, and alerted me to this clean up), Dana T, Debbie D, Crash, and Deuce (Luke), who also brought his party barge.

In addition to the satisfaction of participating in the clean up, Crash and I had quite a bit of fun testing out a number of "trash boats".

Some photos from today:

[Cowper]

And some more:

[Cowper]

And two more...