LEE CREEK CLEANUP (9-12-09)

[Half Ton]

It's that time again for the Lee Creek Cleanup so if you aren't going to make it to Rendevous for whatever reason.....

Please come join in on a different ACC event on the same weekend !

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Time for annual Lee Creek Cleanup

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the second year, citizens from Sebastian, Crawford and Washington counties will work to together clean up Lee Creek. The event is one of many Keep Arkansas Beautiful cleanups occurring in other parts of the state. The Lee Creek Cleanup is Saturday, Sept. 12 beginning at 9 a.m. The event concludes at 2 p.m. following lunch and door prize giveaways.
The Lee Creek Cleanup is an important event because many people rely on it for recreational use throughout the year, including citizens of northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley and tourists to the area. Last year’s event was the first one at Lee Creek and 165 people helped get the area clean and ready for fall use by citizens and tourists. Volunteers collected 3.5 tons of trash from the creek, creek access points and surrounding private lands and highways. The creek is designated an extraordinary resource water and the cleanup event helps keep that designation.
The 2009 cleanup spans from Devil’s Den State Park in Washington County to Natural Dam in Crawford County. Teams will work on foot, horseback, canoe and cars to clean the area from Devil’s Den to the old silver bridge on Highway 220. Assisting with this area will be members of the Northwest Chapter of the Arkansas Canoe Club as well as members of the Highlands Chapter of the Ozarks Society. The lower portion of the river will be cleaned by landowners and members of the River Valley Chapter of the Arkansas Canoe Club.
Headquarters for the day’s event will be located at the day use horse parking area at the west end of the park, just off of Highway 220. Additional check-in points will be located at the Buckhorn trailhead near Fall Creek as well as at Natural Dam Park.
The Lee Creek Cleanup is just one of many kick-off events for the annual Great Arkansas Cleanup campaign going on between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30.
Several organizations are taking part in organizing the Sept. 12 event, including the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service, Washington County Environmental Affairs Office, Crawford County Cooperative Extension Service, Devils Den State Park, United States Forest Service and the Arkansas Canoe Club.
Sponsors of the event include the Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission, Tyson Foods, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Waste Management, Pack Rat Outdoor Center, Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters, Lewis & Clark Outfitters, Southtown Sporting Goods 2, Arkansas Canoe Club, Arvest Bank, the Ozark Society, White Rock Mountain Resort, Ozark Natural Foods and the Arkansas Game and Fish Stream Team.
Lunch, refreshments and door prizes follow the clean up event. Check-in and cleanup begins at 9 a.m. followed by lunch at noon.
For more information contact John Pennington at the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service at 479-444-1755 or email jhpennington@uaex.edu.

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[Victor Caballeros]

I'll be there you can count on me to show up and clean

[DeBo]

Good news! Rendezvous will be September 18-20 this year.

I plan to be at both Rendezvous and the Lee Creek Cleanup.

[GN YAKN]

We need to make sure and have a good representation from all available ACC members. I plan to be there and will pay particular attention to the two access points and will bring the appropriate implements to facilitate some weed wacking and limb trimming.

I had word from the FS that the road into the take out has been reworked. Anybody have a visual on that?

Glad the dates worked out. FYI for the clean up planners, the Rendezvous has traditionally been the second weekend after labor day.

Dave

[Half Ton]

Thanks for the Heads up on the date change Debo!

Thanks for your help Vic ! It's a dirty job, but you da man for offering to come out and clean up.

Dave, Thanks for the rally call ! Also, please call bobby petrino or our new AD and tell them to leave the third or 4th weekend of september open on the schedule - ALWAYS !

I say this because it seems that the organizing crew involved values Razorback Games very much, and don't really want to work on a game day. I can't blame them really. Well they could be club members i guess and then they should value rendevous more than football ! and then I could right ? ha ha

September is a tough month to plan weekend stuff though with Labor day, rendevous, out east paddle trips, and razorback football. Maybe I can steer them towards an away game weekend, or a night game weekend next year but ultimately they are a good crew and this event would not be the same without them involved. So whatever it takes to keep them workin' happily to make the event happen.

I was sad when this event conflicted with the Rendevous because I knew that a great many ACC folk come on out to support the Lee Creek Cleanup. I am happy to know that somehow it doesn't conflict with rendevous anymore and will be elated when everyone shows up and represents with some Lee Creek Love.

[Regud]

Way to go John for spear heading this event! I'll be there!

[GN YAKN]

Oh ya, football. That is always a tough one to plan around. I'm not much of a sports fanatic so my mind doesn't work that way. But I certainly understand that others do and those Saturday games in F'ville are pretty special. Some people even wear red and white striped overalls and get their picture in the paper!

We have wrestled with that many times during Vous planning but have pretty much stuck with the 2nd weekend after Labor Day and dealt with the effects of the football schedule as we had to. Having a consistent date pays off with these type of events in the long run.

My idea of enjoying a Razorback game is listening to it on AM radio while I'm out dinking around in the garage or the yard! However, when my wife and I were planning our wedding date for October, 1982, the priest had to consult the Razorback schedule to make sure that was an away weekend!

Dave

[Half Ton]

Ryan - Thanks for the props, but I must share them with everyone who helps out as I am nothing by myself but a low lying instigator. So I must also say that instigator is a better adjective than spearhead.

For this reason I say that, it is easy to be a spearhead once something has been done well before with the help of many others. It was easy to this the first time because of the help of Mike Chiolino and Debbie Doss, in addition to the other organizers. This year it is Diane Cheshier in addition to Mike and Debbie - among others.

To get it started though, one must definitely be an instigator - and have the help of dedicated others.

Dave, I must say that listening the hogs play labor day weeekend on a radio while sippin' cold ones on a gravel bar of the Lower Buffalo is my favorite way to enjoy a hog game !

[Half Ton]

I received a question about the Floatability of Lee Creek on September 12th for the Lee Creek Cleanup.

Unfortuneately, the answer to that question is - it depends.

Last year it rained enough to float 20 miles from Devils Den down to the Natural Dam Area before the cleanup. On the day of the event there was water to float from 220 down to natural dam.

It would be nice if there is water again for this years cleanup, but we will not know for sure until the date is closer.

So, in planning for no rain and no floatability - the focus is on cleaning up access sites and camp sites near the river. Then sometime later when it rains enough to make the creek come up to a floatable stage....we should have a dedicated group see to it that entire reach is actually cleaned!

Landowners from 220 down are being invited to participate by cleaning up the trash that is on their streamside property and to take it to the Natural Dam or Fall Creek collection sites. This should make a later cleanup of ACC takeout down to Nat Dam easier.

The stretch from Devils Den down to the 220 bridge is usually not that bad and is even a fun whitewater wilderness float.

So, if you want to float Lee during the cleanup but can't....just wait til it rains enough and I will be out there with a group that anyone is welcome to join in on to ensure that it is taken care of completely.

Thanks to you all for your tremendous support of this creek cleanup !

[Half Ton]

Last year there was a contest between the RV, NW, and Central chapter for who could have more folk come out and participate...... It was a draw.

The Ozark Society - a great sister org to the ACC came out an represented very well also and had as many or more folk than the ACC.....Depending on who you count ACC and who you count Ozark Society as their are many folk with dual memberships.

This year I heard that the Ozark Society is really pushing this event hard and is going to come out in force the day of. I wonder who will have more folk at the event this year ?

Anyway, If your not familiar with the OS as a group check'em out because they are a good one, and they've done a lot to ensure we still have the rivers we have to paddle on. to them and us - a great team !

[Half Ton]

We had the last creek cleanup meeting today and I just now realized....... we have 2,000$ of door prizes :shock: to give away on saturday.

[Half Ton]

Whose Keepin' count anyway ?.......

The Ozark Society will again co-sponsor a day of clean-up of Lee Creek on Saturday, September 12. We had the highest turnout of any organization last year so let’s do it again. Meet at the Day Use Horse Parking Area in Devil’s Den State Park (at the west end of the park just off Hwy. 220) at 9:00 a.m. The cleanup will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. A free lunch will be served at 12:00 noon and there will be door prize giveaways from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30. It is great fun and almost everybody gets a door prize.

[GN YAKN]

This was the best organized and attended creek cleanup I have had the pleasure of participating in. What a great turn out and mix of organizations and sponsors.

Many thanks to John and everyone that helped put on this fantastic event.

And thanks to the Forest Services for filling in the truck-eating mudhole at the take out on 220. Nice work!

Dave

[Half Ton]

Sponsors, Volunteers,USFS, Coop. Ext. Service, Wash. Co. Env. Affiars, and ACC:

GOOD JOB

220 participants and 3.2 tons of trash picked up :shock:

Here's to ya

You Know, if trees would not have blocked the Takeout point for a coupla months we coulda might have picked up 3.5 tons like last year

[prophet]

great work, thats 29#/person.

would have been more if Dave R. would have hauled in that man/bear/pig carcass found in bags in a side creek