Under the Caveman Bridge: Carl brought a group!

Caveman Bridge, downstream view, North Bank

8/2/14

I had a good radio show with Carl Wilson on KAJO on Wednesday, for about 15 minutes at the end of Eyewitness Reports.  On Friday, he called and said that he’d be working with me on Saturday under the Bridge, and had been asking some friends to join him.  I was thrilled and fairly certain that he, at least, would show up.

As I got in the truck on Saturday, packed for the cleanup, I heard him talking on KAJO about our project, and putting out a last-minute call to the public.  He told people that a litter grabber is recommended, as well as gloves and a bucket, and that he was bringing a box of gloves as well, which made me very happy. 

I got there in time to get my signs set by the entrance and get mostly set up with refreshments and sign-up list before he came, and the group started gathering.  I had them sign up and equipped those without buckets with yellow litter bags with my stickers and “Trash only” written on them, explaining that the city allows me to leave these bags next to their trash cans for disposal, but I have to write “trash only” to stop collectors from emptying them into the trash cans in search of returnables. 

Truly, the Bottle Bill is out of date; it is hardly worth the hassle of turning them in.  I don’t.  I give them to a man who is starting to think it isn’t worth the hassle of putting them in the machine.  I think that they cause more litter than they get cleaned up, making some think that it’s okay to throw them because some bum will pick them up.  I learned on work crew that even many bums don’t think they are worth returning; they slept next to piles of them.

We started on the top of the Bridge, which didn’t take long with the group doing both sides at once, and thoroughly with us changing sides and going back.  From there, we pretty much split up and covered the area, some going after the big trash down by the river, where people eat and hang out on the relatively private rocks; some went out on the disk golf course; some went after the small litter around the tree and the butt pit below.  I decided that the steps needed to be blown off and got my battery blower; I ended up getting a broom and dustpan by the time I got to the bottom; the dirt was thick in the corners and it piled up too much for a blower.

I didn’t get any pictures; my camera battery was dead.  Otherwise I could have gotten a shot of the broken plastic yard chair and twin-sized inch-thick plastic foam pad that Steve Roe brought up from the river.  I later found a fully-equipped fishing pole where I presume he found the furniture, and gave it away within 50 feet.

We stayed pretty scattered out, but four of us gathered below the sidewalk under the Bridge and worked on the butts and broken glass on that slope and especially at the bottom against the curved bridge support.  I used the screen-bottom dustpan that my housemate Donnie made for me to use on that spot, as the soil there is loose fine silt.

We worked there until noon, when Carl said he had another appointment.  Some had already gone home by then, and I thought we were the last still there.  Rebecca and Madison Anderson thereby each won a prize for being the last to leave, after helping me gather tools: their choice of the gardening hats in my bag.  They chose matching hats with large brims all the way around.

I stayed to work down by the river a little while and see what had been left.  At one point, I found glass broken on the side of a concrete pipe, and needed a broom and dustpan again.  As I was going to my truck to get them, I met one of our helpers, Carolyn Henderson, coming in with her tools, saying it was time for her to leave.  She’d gone home to get a rake at one point, and got back to work.  So she won a choice of gardening hats as well.

Carl and I will be working at the Fairgrounds this Saturday the 9th, cleaning the frontage from one end to the other.  I expect he will bring a group there

also, including some that showed up for the Bridge.  The Fairgrounds had the weeds cut along the west parking lot fence.  Hurray!  We'll be working under the Bridge again on the 16th.  Register at Volunteercleanup.org to join the cleanup.

Nine people showed up and participated.  Beside the above-mentioned, Trish Bull, Jiggy Bim, Jennifer Black, Marie Solomon and Kristi Roe worked to help make this “a city that looks safe and is safe.”