BY CAROL SOUTH
Special to the Record-Eagle
TRAVERSE CITY — Tires, a mangled and rusty bicycle, medical waste, chairs and a 60-pound safe.
Not to mention the countless cans and flip-flops, the most common finds during the Boardman River Clean Sweep.
This year's seventh annual event, held Saturday morning, dispatched 65 volunteers to remove this trash and more from the river. Workers cleaned the water and shore from the Forks landing upstream through the river's outlet into West Grand Traverse Bay downtown.
"It keeps the river pristine and clean," said Steve Largent, Boardman River program coordinator for the Grand Traverse Conservation District. "The Boardman River is a community resource and treasure. We need to take care of it."
Teams of paddlers traversed the river, scanning for even the smallest garbage to remove. Walkers on the banks also combed an upstream section as well as the Boardman River downtown to clear out more waste. Volunteers came from organizations including the Traverse Area Paddle Club, Kingsley Outdoor Adventure Club, United States Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City and Home Depot.
A grant from the the Great Lakes Commission, a special Department of Natural Resources grant for cleaning rivers, helped underwrite the 2011 Boardman Clean Sweep.
After seven years, the sweep still finds larger items, but overall the Boardman is in fairly good shape.
"What's amazing is the difference in the stuff we find now -- no more ancient cans, and we've gotten most of the tires out of there now," said volunteer Jocelyn Trepte.
Event founder Norm Fred is in part atoning for his boyhood transgressions. Now 72 and an avid paddler and environmentalist, he grew up in an era oblivious to conservation or pollution control. Haunted by memories of sinking steel pop cans in the lake as a kid, he works now to make a difference.
"I just want to leave the earth a better place than I found it," said Fred, the event's coordinator.
Fred launched his own one-man Boardman River Clean Sweep eight years ago on the downtown section, inspired to make a difference. The idea took off from there, and by 2005 he had 80 helpers. His meticulously organized operation features shuttles, rosters, maps, prizes and raffles, plus a picnic afterward at the Grand Traverse Conservation District's Oleson Pavilion.
"The Boardman River Clean Sweep is now its own organization. (It) has a pending 501(c)(3) from the IRS," Fred said. "It should continue after I'm gone."
Volunteer Bob Fitch, of Traverse City, attended his first Boardman River Clean Sweep event Saturday. The Traverse Area Paddle Club member has previously helped that organization clean other area rivers.
"You find a lot of footwear. People tip over, and that's one of the things that they lose," said Fitch. "Seems like about 75 percent is beverage containers, some still full."
Fitch, a veteran paddler for 10 years, was part of the team that worked the Shumsky to Beitner section. For him, the annual group effort to clean the Boardman reflects a deep commitment to the waterway.
"It shows when a community takes care of a river," he said. "I've seen it both ways."
Traverse Area Paddle Club outings coordinator Lois Goldstein has participated in countless cleanups over the years, including the Boardman Clean Sweep annually. While keeping the rivers clean is crucial, she also said volunteers set an example for other recreational users, especially in high traffic areas such as the Lower Platte.
"It's really, really important to keep the rivers clean, but what's also important is for the public to see other people on the river cleaning it up," Goldstein said.
For more information on the annual Boardman River Clean Sweep, see brcleansweep.org.
