by Crystal Gottfried
A thousand boy scouts, sixty scuba divers, river outfitters, community volunteers, and homeowners plan to spend this Saturday in the Guadalupe River and all along its banks picking up the trash left behind by thousands of summer visitors.
Nathan Pence, River Project Manager for New Braunfels Parks & Recreation and member of Friends for Rivers, organized the annual event along with the help of Water Oriented Recreation District managers, directors and permit holders, and many others in the area who either live or make their living along the river, as well as those conservationists who want to protect this beautiful Hill Country river.
The clean-up crews will pick up trash and debris from the river bed and banks from the Comal River up to an area near the Canyon dam, while dozens of people from area scuba diving groups will clean the bottom of the deepest, darkest sections of the river.
River outfitters are providing rafts, tubes, and camping spaces as well as shuttle service for volunteers. WORD and Canyon Lake Fire/EMS are providing air supplies for the scuba divers. WORD will provide the trash bags and plenty of other businesses and individuals have provided monetary support for the program as well as sponsoring a commemorative t-shirt for each of the participants.
Friends for Rivers could not do this work without the generous help from their sponsors: Abbott’s, Andy’s, Bezdek’s Rocky Beach, Canyon Lake Fire/EMS, Corner Tubes, Friends for Rivers, Granzin Bar-B-Q, Gruene River Company, Guadalupe Blanco River Authority, Guadalupe Trout Unlimited, HEB Grocery, High Sierra Toilets, Jerry’s, Lazy L & L, Little Ponderosa, Mountain Breeze, New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, New Braunfels Parks & Recreation, Pit Stop, Rio Raft, River Sports, Rockin R River Rides, Roy’s, Rudy’s Country Store & Bar-B-Q, Rust Game Place, TEED Shirts, Terrapin Wetsuits, The Hideout at Whitewater Sports, Tri City Distributors, Water Oriented Recreation District, and Wright Distributing Company.
To participate in this year’s river clean-up effort, contact Mike Dussere or Amanda
McCutcheon at WORD 830-907-2300 or Nathan Pence at NB Parks & Recreation at 830-608-2166.
|