Reservoir cleanup day successful, despite weather
Fifty-three volunteers braved strong northwest winds Saturday to help with the sixth annual Marion Reservoir cleanup day. Despite a cold 35-degree start, volunteers from Marion Middle School, 4-H, and Parkview church filled a Dumpster with trash from areas around the reservoir.
The event was sponsored by MudPuppies Stream Team #2642, Tampa State Bank, Great Plains Computers & Networking, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
"We could have used a little warmer day, but we still covered all our targeted cleanup sites," said coordinator Lloyd Davies. "We had to stay off the rocks on the dam because of the spray."
Last year's cleanup was postponed a week due to snow.
Steady rains throughout the week also kept the volunteers out of some areas on the north side of the lake, but the north and south beaches of Broken Bridge were cleaned up for the first time. Recently burned areas near the dam and in the north Cottonwood areas exposed a lot of trash.
Students from Chad Adkins' seventh and eighth grade social studies classes received credit for the community service work.
Areas cleaned up included Marion Cove and overflow access, North Cottonwood camp areas, K-15 Cottonwood Bridge, French Creek Cove, Bruderthal Church, road accesses to the dam, and north and south Broken Bridge.
