Our Work
Annual Creek Cleanup: 2013
2013 Cleanup Results
Once again, volunteers surpassed all previous Little Hunting Creek cleanup efforts.
This year, a total of 191 volunteers picked up 474 bags of trash and recyclables, 43 tires, and 19 shopping carts at 14 locations along the creek. That is close to twice the number of bags (245) that we picked up last year. (The bags are 25% smaller this year, however.)
The downstream, tidal portion of the creek is much cleaner than it was. Won’t it be great when it is clean and restored to its natural health and beauty along its full length? Imagine, the wildlife that use the creek won’t have to crunch through bottle litter, risk entrapment in plastic bags, or risk poisoning from cigarette butts, pieces of polystyrene, and other toxics.
Upstream is better, too. Last year, Delegate Surovell and his volunteers pulled over 100 shopping carts out of the creek. This year there were many fewer, and Walmart (owner of the vast majority of retrieved carts) has promised to install a restraint system to prevent them from leaving their lot. Could all the publicity, and Delegate Surovell’s proposed bill to penalize owners of abandoned property, be making the difference?
2013 Trashmasters of Little Hunting Creek
- The champions are once again the Brady Street Bunch and the Amundson Fellows, who picked up 83 bags, 2 tires and 1 shopping cart. Thanks as always to Vi Garbar, Joe Bavaria, and Mort Isler for a stellar effort.
- Runner-up TRASHMASTERS are the crew assembled by Delegate Surovell (and ably led by Chris Bea) to work behind the Mount Vernon Plaza. Junior Girl Scout Troop 128 and others collected 75 bags of trash, 4 tires, and 15 shopping carts.
- Tied for third place TRASHMASTERS are the Brownies and the Cub Scouts. At the Creekside Village Apartments, a motley crew that included Girl Scout Brownie Troop 922, fliers, and many others picked up 56 bags of trash, 10 tires, a bed frame, traffic cone, child’s seat, etc.
- At First River Farms, Steve Robinson led Cub Scout Den 888 and local residents in collecting 52 bags, 5 tires, and old AC unit, rusted propane tank, tub of oil, and 3 garbage cans.
Congratulations to all!
Additional Thanks
These teams are the big trash magnates. But we’re all winners—the remaining 10 crews picked up nearly half the trash collected in the cleanup.
Special thanks go to the extraordinary efforts of:
- Delegate Scott Surovell (a.k.a. King of Karts), who recruited lots of new cleanup participants and added two very trashy sites on North Little Hunting Creek this year. Once again Delegate Surovell is pushing into virgin territory (well, maybe virgin isn’t quite the right word) where the Friends of Little Hunting Creek have never cleaned up before.
- Robert O’Hanlon, of O’Hanlon Tree Service, continues to contribute his unique talents and equipment in his quest to get every last shopping cart out of the creek. If it weren’t for him, all those shopping carts would still be buried in mud.
- Girl Scout Gold Medal candidate Nina Shute, who is involving the Creekside Village children in workshops on the environment, recycling, and litter.
- Allen Davis, who expanded the cleanup effort in Riverside Estates, and (with Dani Klorig) went to great efforts to increase the publicity and participation in that neck of the creek. At right: Barbara and Allen Davis and Chris and Sean Owens.
- The other stalwart site leaders who show up for duty year after year, including Bryan and Ursula Birch (Gum Springs), Roberta Cullen, Paul Siegel, Beate Whitesell and Pat Fogarty (Stratford Landing), Tom and Karen Fahy (Riverside Estates), Mark and Julia Miller (Wessynton), David Gahart (north Riverside Estates), and Megan Howard, Delegate Surovell’s able assistant.
- New site leaders who led cleanup efforts for the first time this year, including Chris Bea, Lauren Lyles, Barry Spangler and Ann Street, Stephen and Juanita Czontos. Welcome aboard! Look for them next year.
- Quentin Marovelli and his wonderful county workers, who pick up all that trash promptly on Monday morning, and resolve any little problems with lingering piles of tires or whatever. You guys are the best!
Congratulations and thanks to all!
The Brownies and the Cub Scouts tied for third place in the race for the TRASHMASTER title.
Delegate Surovell with members of West Potomac Junior ROTC at the Janna Lee Avenue bridge.
Want to get in on the cleanup action?
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What We’re Working On
Here are some of our ongoing initiatives for improving Little Hunting Creek. Click a photo to learn more about what we are doing and how you can help!
