Massive Creek Cleanup March 19th

[billy]

When's the next one?

[fieldafm]

Once again, this clean up conflicts with other events (clean ups) in Springfield....otherwise I'd be there. Hopefully there will be sufficient numbers to show up for all clean up efforts scheduled for today. Good luck and thanks to those who are donating their time and efforts into all clean up events for today!

I've emailed SPAR a few times to try to coordinate clean up efforts.  I received no response.  If you know anyone that would like to assist me, please have them give me a call on my cell phone.  I will PM it to you.

Just as an FYI, today's river cleanup was the 16th annual River Cleanup Day sponsored by the city and several corporations with 20 cleanup locations around the city.  We didn't purposely do a cleanup to conflict with anyone else's schedule.

That being said, 7 people collected the same amount of trash today at Hogans Creek than nearly 60 people along the Northbank Riverwalk.  I'll post up some pictures later this weekend.  Off to a family bbq.

[Lucasjj]

We were really able to get a lot done this morning with the group we had. It was really noticeable by the time we were ready to leave. Here is a shot of what we pulled out this morning.

[Mueller]

That was a lot to get out, but I'm glad we did.  I did a quick 4.5 miler after, and where we cleaned up last month is all dirty again 

[billy]

We were really able to get a lot done this morning with the group we had. It was really noticeable by the time we were ready to leave. Here is a shot of what we pulled out this morning.



is that the shopping cart that was nose down under the Adams Street bridge by chance?

[billy]

and the bike wheel that was hanging in the tree?

[Noone]

What a special day on  our urban waterway Hogans Creek. A special thanks to Vivian Harrell with Keep Jacksonville beautiful. She had done a site inspection weeks ago and her follow up with other city departments prepped the location for what turned out to be a rewarding cleanup. Congratulations to all that participated throughout the city and Springfielder we'll get together.

Another special thanks to Keith Myers our site captain and former mayoral candidate. Over the years this time of year has always been a reunion for us. Today was no different. He was there early like always and ready to welcome everyone. He took a spot and transformed it.

We had the kayaks unloaded and LucasJJ was one of the first to arrive We put in and the tide was low and incoming we headed north and spotted the first shopping cart. We went back and got another kayak and used that to tow it in. Field and the Capt. arrived with reinforcements. Mueller was awesome and covered a lot of ground. Will was in one spot that had such a dense concentration of junk that I believe he filled up 4 bags in about a 20'area. He rocked it.

The Capt. sister brought water and food and that was so nice of her to do that.

Field took a kayak and also scoured the creek like we all did finding those high pockets of garbage. The Skiles team. Doug and son Jacob arrived by kayak from San Marco. What a paddle! City leaders, pay attention to that accomplishment in District 5. They paddled to RAM later.  Billy to your question about the shopping cart depth chart and tire in the trees. As far as I know they are still there. 

It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of todays cleanup with each of you.

[Springfielder]

Once again, this clean up conflicts with other events (clean ups) in Springfield....otherwise I'd be there. Hopefully there will be sufficient numbers to show up for all clean up efforts scheduled for today. Good luck and thanks to those who are donating their time and efforts into all clean up events for today!

I've emailed SPAR a few times to try to coordinate clean up efforts.  I received no response.  If you know anyone that would like to assist me, please have them give me a call on my cell phone.  I will PM it to you.

Just as an FYI, today's river cleanup was the 16th annual River Cleanup Day sponsored by the city and several corporations with 20 cleanup locations around the city.  We didn't purposely do a cleanup to conflict with anyone else's schedule.

That being said, 7 people collected the same amount of trash today at Hogans Creek than nearly 60 people along the Northbank Riverwalk.  I'll post up some pictures later this weekend.  Off to a family bbq.

I didn't imply, nor did the thought of any intentional conflict of events, enter my mind. What I did say was that your scheduled clean up was on the same day as others in Historic Springfield, and that otherwise I would gladly have joined yours. The one event I mentioned was a Preservation SOS (http://forum.preservationsos.org) clean up, which is not part of SPAR. We will work with you on future scheduling, when at all possible, to prevent conflicts in events. Please, feel free to pm me, and we can exchange email addresses, because Preservation SOS does work along with other organizations for the betterment of our community.

I'm not a member of spar, although the contact person, I would think, would be either Brenda Boydston â€" Executive Director or maybe William Hoff - Parks: 353-7727. http://sparcouncil.org/about-us/contact/

[Miss Fixit]

Springfielder is right - Bill Hoff is the person you should contact on the SPAR board.  He is involved with their block captains program.

[Noone]

Just an FYI anyone heading over the FDOT overpasses see if you notice the roll up container behind the Jacksonville Historical Society next to Hogans Creek.

The citywide River Celebration was a success and can't wait to hear the results. As to all those who participated with Hogans Creek and the residents of Springfield the access issue for this urban waterway is just getting started. It will continue to be elevated throughout the state.

Everyone is Making it Happen.

[Angelica Pickles]

This is the Capt's sister, and it was my pleasure to be a part of the cleanup! We have 3 cases of bottled water left, so I'll definitely bring water and food to the next one. I'm sorry that I couldn't stay longer on Saturday. It was incredible to see how much trash was in (and around) that small part of the creek and what a difference just a few people with a few hours could make! Congratulations on a successful clean-up -- I look forward to the next one.

[dougskiles]

That was the first time I was able to see the creek at high tide.  It was very impressive to see the water on the side of the Maxwell House building.  So many interesting things.  Lots and lots of trash along the banks coming in from the river.  By far the biggest producers of the stuff are the people living along the edge.  What on earth can be done to make them care?  It doesn't bother me so much that they are there, but it kills me to see how they completely disregard our environment.

[Captain Zissou]

Cleaning with the kayaks was such a great idea and was really effective.  Lucas tied a basket that he found in the water to his kayak and essentially turned it into a pick up truck.  We collected a greater volume of trash than I think any clean up we have had yet.  There is plenty to still do at that site and many others, but we're making progress!!  I'm so excited about the possibilities with this creek.

[dougskiles]

How long will the dumpster be there?  Hopefully for a while because now that we have longer days, I may head over after work for a few minutes of fun cleaning.

[PeeJayEss]

How about a cleanup/barbeque/fest? Hang out for a while. Do some cleaner, do some grilling, maybe have a couple beers. Bring back a bag of trash, get a dog (or beer/soda, or burger). Hell, we could even give it out to the locals on the condition that they throw their trash in a can and not the creek.

Better yet, spend the Jags pregame tailgating and cleaning at the creek. And we follow through on Capt's "Hogan's Heroes" idea and get some Jags/Heroes booster shirts. That way when people at the game see the sweet shirts, we can tell them how to get em (even sell the shirts maybe). This cleanup/tailgate would naturally transition into a tailgate/play/swim/yak as the creek gets better and better.

Naturally, I just want to involve drinking in the cleanups, instead of waiting until immediately after.