Missouri River Education

The mission of Missouri River Relief is to connect people to the Missouri River through hands-on river clean-ups, education events and stewardship activities.

It's been 11 years since Missouri River Relief held our first community clean-up in Easley, MO.  Cleaning up all the trash on the Missouri River is a daunting goal.  Very quickly we realized that the easiest way to get rid of the trash is if it never ends up in the river in the first place.

Education is the key.

Missouri River Relief's Education Program provides on-the-river, hands-on educational activities for children and adults that help foster a better understanding and appreciation of the Missouri River.  During an event we've started to organize called "Day on the River", we combine Service Learning with hands-on booths from experts in various river related fields, and then actually take students out on the river.

Hands-on learning is the focus.  The riverbank is the location.  River Relief and its partners bring scientists, educators and volunteers together to share their expertise with hundreds of school children right where it matters most.  Through direct experience and a little effort, they walk away with a renewed relationship to the river and more knowledge than they thought they'd gain on a boat trip. 

During the last decade, this mission has introduced more than 30,000 students, teachers and volunteers to the beauty and importance of the Missouri River.  By teaching the values of clean water and the impacts of human pollution on wildlife and ecosystems, we give our community the knowledge to make change in local evnironmental issues.

We spent two days recently with North Kansas City students from Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology and Staley High School.  Experts from the Mo. Dept. of Conservation, National Weather Service, US Geological Survey and US Environmental Protection Agency came to teach students about reptiles, water quality, hydrology and the history of the Missouri River.

During both the morning and afternoon session, Missouri River Relief got to take the kids out on the river to see the sights and clean up a bunch of trash. Most of these students had never been on the river, and we could see doors opening as the day went on.  The kids hammed it up with the attention they were getting as we captured the event on camera, and tried to act normal despite their excitement when the TV crews showed up and took this amazing footage:



It also amazes me that the kids that are really into getting trash out of the river always gravitate to the biggest items.  Here, both of my student groups went after the biggest tires they could find!  

 

Over the previous several weeks, Fran and Dave Stous, chairs of Missouri River Relief's Education Committee, began to teach lessons in the classroom about the Watershed, Where Trash Comes From, Recycling, and Stormwater from lesson plans that had finnally been formalized and  formatted by the committee.  Here's a photo of Fran & Dave greeting the buses arriving on Tuesday, Oct. 16th.

Students were then invited to bring their family to our annual Big Muddy River Clean-up in Kansas City, and treated to a free t-shirt, that featured some of Missouri River Relief's favorite wilflife that inhabits the river.  A Great Blue Heron and River Turtle!  (Okay, the turtle actually pictured is not a river turtle, but close enough)

This project was supported in part by grants from Mid-America Regional Council, Captain Planet Foundation and USFWS Columbia Ecological Services.

Check out our Flickr albums to see all of the wonderful groups we've had the pleasure of getting out on the river in 2012!  Here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/8478409@N03/collections/72157629674561251/

Kansas City Missouri River Clean-up Results 2012

Kansas City Missouri River Clean-up

Kaw Point Park, Kansas City, KS

October 20^th, 2012

Total Volunteers:  303

MRR Crew:  44

Boats:   12  (5 Missouri River Relief, 4 MDC, 1 EPA, 1 Burns & Mac, 1 Rivermiles)

River Miles:  13  (Missouri Rivermiles 373-362, 2 on the Kaw)

River Level: 10.4 ft on the Kansas City gage

Tires: 76 Tires (1.4 tons)

Landfill Tonnage:  5 tons

Scrap Metal:  6.5 tons

Total Tonnage:  12.9 Tons!

Groups & Agencies Involved:  

The Missouri River Relief Crew, Rockhurst University, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC), Park University, Oakwood Manor Elementary, Crossroads Church, Missouri Stream Team, Kaw Point Park, Kansas City Geocachers, Missouri Master Naturalists, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SEA LIFE Kansas City, Captain Catfish, Student Environmental Coalition (SEC), Louis Berger Group, Cargill, Singles Available for Community Service (SACS), Healthy Rivers Partnership, Burns & McDonnell, Unilever, North Central Neighbors, Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club (OWWC), Advantage Metals Recycling, Cub Scouts Pack 3385, Green Club, Briarcliff Chapel, Shawnee Mission Northwest Highschool (SMNW)

Names of River Teams:  Jumping Carp, Banana Tacos, Red Backs, Smithe Patrol, Sleepy Wimbats, Trash Ninjas, Nautical Salmons, KC GeoCachers, Outstanding Owls, Trash Talkers, The Gappers, Dry Muskateers, Fearless Chickens, Screeching Owls, Oakie, Group Fourteen, Mark Twain, Sharks, Bob Supertrash, Team Solid, Man Up, Getters, Killswitch Engage, Blue Catfish, Cleaning K, The Polywogs, Happy Campers

Trash Tally!!!!

421 Bags of Trash

76 Tires (5 huge ones)

3 Hunks O’ Tire Tread

1 Inner Tube

30 Chunks O’ Styrofoam

7 Coolers

17 ½ - 5-gal. Plastic Buckets

1 – 5 gal. Plastic Bucket with Poison

3 – 55 gal. Metal Drums

2 ½ - 55 gal. Plastic Barrels

1 – 10 gal. Water Jug

1 – 40 gal. Metal Drum

1 – 5 gal. Jug of Insecticide

1 – 7 gal. Metal Bucket

2 Refrigerators (1 mini fridge)

2 Bicycles (1 red, 1 blue)

3 Bicycle Tires and 1 Wheel

1 Cart on Wheels

2 Garden Hoses

1 Lawn Mower

4 Orange Traffic Cones

1 Shopping Cart

2 Mattresses

4 Bed Springs

6 Chairs

1 Cushion

1 Bathroom Sink

1 Venetian Blinds

1 Folding Table

1 Trash Can Lid

3 ft. of PVC Pipe

1 – 30 gal. Plastic Tub

Pornography

1 Bag of Syringes – unused

3 Baseball Hats

1 Football Flag

20+ Balls (Soccer, Basket Ball, Tennis)

1 Dress Jacket

1 Fire Hose – blue plastic

4 Bags O’ Scrap Metal

1 Gear Shift

1 License Plate

6 Hub Caps

1 Truck Liner

1 Car Bumper

1 Motor Wheel

2 Car Grills

6 Wheel Rims

5 Exhaust Pipes

1 Pump

3 Gas Tanks

1 Steering Wheel

2 Horse Shoes

1 – 4” shaft Motor

5 pieces of Steel Beam

1 steel Belt

2 pieces of Electrical Conduit

20 pieces of Railing

65 large pieces of Iron

1 metal Gas Can

Barbed Wire

9 Grills & Grates

3 – 12” metal Pipes

1 Wire Basket

1 RR Bridge Catwalk

17 steel Rods

1 4x4 Post

1 6x8 Metal Sheet

49 pieces of Rebar

30 iron Machine Parts

Refrigerator Coils

3 Fence Posts

1 Window Screen

1 Metal Case

59 pieces of Tow Boat remains

1 Fire Extinguisher

1 TV

6’ of Roofing Shingles

2 pieces of Vinyl Sidinsg

3 heavy pieces of Rubber Roofing/Flooring

14 wooden Boards with nails

2 wooden Box Frames

1 6x6 piece of Plywood

4 pieces of Flooring

2 pieces of Carpet

1 cubicle Divider

8 Vinyl Strips

1 Blanket

2 Tarps

1 giant Man Purse (full)

1 Bamboo Shade

2 Patio Umbrellas

5 Hunks O’ Corrugated Plastic

1 melted heavy Chunk O’ Plastic

50’ of Plastic Tubing

1 Golf Driver Club

45 pieces of 8” Plastic Pipe

9 ½ PVC Pipes

1 long Plastic Planter

1 Tote Cover

1 Plastic Sink

Trash Contest Entries!!!!

Best Darned Find of the Day

An “Official” Message in a Bottle

A natural Terrarium growing in a Glass Bottle

Weirdest Trash

1 naked Baby Doll

1 Motor Gear

1 Garage Door Opener

1 Car Seat Headrest

2 Mylar Balloons

Biggest Trash

1 plastic Big Wheel Tricycle

1 25 ft. Tape Measurer

100 ft. of Cable

Most Fashionable

1 Security Badge

1 Wool Coat

1 Tank Top

1 Shoe

1 Metal Bird

Most Artistic

1 Fishing Lure

1 Wooden Heart

1 Wire & Plastic Contraption

1 Bobber in Driftwood

Oldest Trash

1 Computer Hard Drive Tower

1 Fire Extinguisher

1 Spray Can

1 Audio Tape

1 Guy Wire Loop

1 Wooden Box

Most Useful

1 Cooler

1 Dollar

1 I.D. Card

1 Small TV

1 Plastic Cup

1 Library Card

1 Pair of Pliers

1 Toy Airplane

1 Socket

1 Wheel

1 Solar Powered Light

1 Crossbow Pistol

1 BB Gun Handle

1 Maglight

1 MO Lisence Plate

5 Balls

1 Hub Cap

2 pieces of Marble (from a table)

2 iPods

1 plastic Base Ball Bat

Best Animal Finds

1 Deer Skull complete with Antlers & Teeth

2 Jaw Bones

1 stuffed Penguin with a Santa Hat

1 headless Turkey Decoy

1 Bag of Deer Bones

We Love St. Joe!

We arrived on Thursday to start setting up our camp, conveniently located right underneath the Remington Nature Center, and began to ready our crew for the trash scout on Friday.  The ladies at the Nature Center were really nice and let me stop in there a few times to get out of the rugged cold.  I loved seeing the huge Wooly Mammoth that greets everyone at the front door!  What a cool place for learning right there on the river.

The dumpsters started to arrive, and we began to pile on the layers of clothing as a chilly wind blew, and the clouds robbed us of warm sunshine.  Jerry, one of several Master Naturalist volunteers that showed up to help, joined the scout.  And off we went.

Even though the weather was bitterly cold, I enjoyed as always seeing the beauty of the river while scouting for trash.  While we were motoring around, every now and then I would see a small duck head pop back underneath the water, only to pop up again close by.  I never saw the ducks body... how strange.  Jerry told us that they were called "Pie Billed Grebes".  Then I also noticed some "Coots" easily identifiable by their black round body and white bill.  But the best "bird" highlight of the weekend was the Pelicans!  There was probably over 100 pelicans that kept us company all weekend just across the river flying high above the tree line around & around in circles.... they never went anywhere, never perched on anything or swam down the river that I saw... they just glided around and around.  Oh, and how can I forget, the Swan!  We saw the same exact lone swan swimming around the riverfront two years ago.  Local ambassador, Ken Reeder tells us that the Swan has lived there at the river front for something like 11 years!

 

This was Missouri River Relief's 3rd cleanup in the St. Joe area.  Together with our community clean-up partners and volunteers, we were able to remove 6.9 tons of trash from the banks of the river!

Thank You St. Joe!

It has been 2 years since we helped clean the river in St. Joe, and with 1 major flood in the mix from 2011, we weren't sure how much trash we would find.  Sadly, we found a ton.  Well, I guess 7 tons actually.  Highways are built right alongside the river, with lots of railroads, and pockets of land for a walking trail and riverfront park.  So what we were actually finding was highway and railroad refuse, trash littered from well used beaches and fishing accesses, illegal dumps and abandoned homeless camps.  We prayed for a great turnout so that we could get all of this junk off of the river.

Well, if the sun had just come out, we might have seen over 270 volunteers like in 2010.  But after a freezing night hovering in the 30s, a stiff breeze and no sunshine, we were just amazed that 125 brave souls showed up to get out on the river!  Brrrr!!! ...and clean the river they did!  Just check out the amazing trash tally !

After bringing the volunteers back for lunch just a couple hours later, one of the favorite parts of our lunch program is the "Git that Garbage" Trash Contest!  As each boat load started to trickle back in, much to everyone's relief, the lunch that was being provided by the St. Jo Frontier Casino had been moved inside!  It was like heaven.  What a treat.  On top of that, we had a wonderful trash contest MC'd by our own Steve Schnarr, followed by a captivating river "love" story by story teller and Ozark songstress, Maridith Sisco!

 

We got all warmed up - no actually Meredith got us fired up - and we went back out to finish hauling in the trash from the river that we learned was really our life blood, every bit a part of us.  Meredith joined us later that night around our campfire where she graced us with her historic rendition of the song "Shanendoah" after telling us the story of its history and how over time it had been changed to a sailor's tale.  It was amazing.
Everything was smooth sailing after lunch, and we had an incredible clean-up and weekend in St. Joe!

A huge thanks to Scott, Thomas, Darby and Jason, the Mo. Dept. of Conservation biologists that brought their boats to shuttle volunteers. Much thanks to MDC employee T.J. Peacher for bringing an ATV and trailer to help haul trash by land. And thanks to Ron Gillette from St. Joseph Parks for running the back hoe used to get trash from boats to the dumpsters.  And to our local ambassadors, Ken Reeder and John Wood who took good care of us while we were in town.

To read more stories about the St. Joe Missouri River clean-up and see more photos from the event, check out our blog and photos on Flickr!

It takes a real leap of faith to get down & dirty on the Mighty MO and we can't thank our St. Joe sponsors, partners and volunteers enough for all of the support they showed us while we were in town!

photos by Melanie Cheney, Steve Schnarr and Rachel Beck  http://rachelbeckphotos.com/

St. Joe Missouri River Clean-up 2012

St. Joseph Missouri River Clean-up

French Bottom Boat Access, St. Joseph, MO

October 6, 2012

Results:

Total Volunteers:  125

MRR Crew:  22

Boats:   7  (4 Missouri River Relief, 3 MDC)

River Miles:  8  (Rivermiles 446-454)

River Level: 5.6 ft

Tires: 52 Tires (.83 tons)

Landfill Tonnage:  3.05 tons

Scrap Metal:  3.01 tons

Total Tonnage:  6.9 Tons

Groups & Agencies Involved:  

The Missouri River Relief Crew, Missouri Master Naturalists - Loess Hills Chapter, Cub Scouts Webelos Pack 17, Cub Scout Webelos Pack 219, Boy Scout Troop 219, Venture Crew #6, Buchanan County Juvenile Authority, St. Joseph Parks and Recreation & Public Works, Rachel Beck Photography, Remington Nature Center, River R. Reeder Foundation, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, St. Jo Frontier Casino

Names of River Teams:  Iron Man, Gate, 219, Beast Mode, Mud Ducks, River Monsters, Major Major, Crew 6

Trash Tally!!!!

126 Bags of Trash

52 Tires

1 Refrigerator

1 Freon Tank

1 Air Compressor Tank

1 Gas Stove in pieces

1 Gas Stove

1 Furnace

1 Perfect Toilet

1 Chunk O’ Styrofoam

2 – 5 gallon Plastic Buckets

3 ½ - 55 gallon Metal Drums

5 – 55 gallon Plastic Barrels

2 Plastic Waste Baskets

5 Mattresses

1 Crib Mattress

3 Box Springs

1 Bed Frame

1 Couch

7 Chairs

1 Plastic Crate

1 Exhaust Pipe

1 insulated Angle Bar

2 rolls of Carpet

1 Board

1 Spool End

20 feet of Snow Fence

19 Metal Pipes

1 Fishing Rod prop

8 pieces of Rebar

2 Fence Posts

1 Paint Can

1 Metal Shelf in pieces

1 Metal Table Top

1 Cable Wire

15 pieces of Scrap Metal

2 Gusset Beams

1 Cable Support

2 ½  TV’s

1 Stereo Speaker

1 Sleeping Bag

5 Tarps

1 Tent

2 inflatable Swimming Pools

1 Vacuum Cleaner

1 Car Grill

1 Tennis Shoe

1 plush Yellow Duck

Trash Contest Entries!!!!

Weirdest Trash

1 Nintendo Gun

1 Plastic Wishbone

1 Creepy Naked Baby Doll

1 Toothbrush

1 part to an Electric Car

1 purple Transformers Magnet

Biggest Trash

1 Boat Bumper

1 Bedframe

1 Couch

1 Barrel

1 Center Console to a Car with cup holders

Most Fashionable

1 pink zebra striped women’s Briefs

1 nice Watch – Wilson’s Glow in the Dark

1 leopard print Cat House

1 old Leather Satchel

1 white strappy baby sandal

1 Hoop Earing

Most Artistic

1 Ceramic Painted Dish

1 CD still in the wrapper “The 4 Most Important Things I Know” by Pastor Brian Zahnd with the Word of Life Church in St. Joe, MO

1 Ceramic Pepper Shaker

 

photos by Rachel Beck, rachelbeckphotos.com

Council Bend Army Corps MRR Crew Cleanup

Council Bend USACE Cleanup

NP Dodge Park, Omaha, NE

September 23^rd & 24^th, 2012

Results :

MRR Crew:  4

Boats:   2 Missouri River Relief

River Miles:  2  Missouri River Miles 618-616, left descending

River Level: 15.42 ft on the Omaha Missouri River Gage

Tires: 7 (estimated .13  tons)

Landfill Tonnage:  estimated 0.8 tons

Scrap Metal:  estimated 0.18 tons

Total Tonnage:  estimated 1.1 Tons

Trash Tally!!!!

56 Bags of Trash

4 Tires on the Rim

3 Tires off the Rim

15 Chunks of Styrofoam

5 Chunks of Plastic

1 Plastic Tub

6 Small Propane Tanks

2 Large Propane Tanks (100 pounds)

2 Plastic 55-gallon Barrels

1 Plastic 35-gallon Barrel

1 Metal 55-gallon Barrel

1 Couch Cushion

2 Double-paned Windows

1 Insulated Shed Door

1 Gallon Bottle Gear Oil

5 Gallon Engine Oil

1 Full Quart Engine Oil

1 Jug of Insecticide

1 Jug of Hydraulic Jack Oil

Several bags of Fisherman’s trash (beer cans, bait boxes, fishing line)

1 Metal First Aid Kit

1 Type IV Throwable PFD

1 Wooden Recycle Bin Topper

1 Wooden Bench

1 Life Jacket

1 Boat Bimini Cover

1 5-gallon Metal Gas Tank for Boat

1 3-gallon Plastic Gas Can

1 Cast Iron Pan

2 Burnt Camp Chairs

2 Plastic Chairs

1 Fork and Knife

2 Traffic Cones

3 Traffic Cone Bases

1 Freightliner Sign

2 Float Rafts

A gazillion stryofoam cups & plastic bags

1 Partial Park Bench

1 Wooden Lattice Fence

1 Grill

1 Ford Hubcap

1 Chevy Mudflap

1 Truck Bedliner

1 Soggy Mitten

45 Feet of Snowfence

1 Concrete Form Rod

6 Unopened Boxes Assorted Fireworks

1 Small Animal Carrier

1 Dog Harness

1 Duck Decoy

5 Tennis Balls

2 Golf Balls

1 Frisbee

5 Light Bulbs

1 Silk Red Rose

1 Unopened Can of Beans

1 Full Budweiser Ice

1 Full Milwaulkie’s Best Light

3-1/2 Flip Flops

1-1/2 Pair of Sunglasses

1 Fraggle Piggyback Snails Toy

1 Green Fuzzy Stuffed Animal

1 Used Condom

2 long fluorescent light bulbs

1 Note from a Paranoid Person 9/17/2

Omaha Clean Sweep a Success!

This was Missouri River Relief's 4th clean-up in the Omaha area.  Last year we enjoyed a fun and successful clean-up just before the monumental flooding, now known as the "Great Flood of 2011".

Together with our community clean-up partners and volunteers like you, we were able to remove 5.2 tons of trash from the banks of the river!

On Saturday, September 22, 208 volunteers showed up at NP Dodge Park to donate a few hours of their time to beautify and help clean the Missouri River.  Nebraska Game and Parks biologists Gerald Mestl and Josh Wilhelm brought their huge boats to help haul volunteers.

We had to move the cleanup to NP Dodge this year due to extremely low river levels and tons of sand that had silted in the Lewis & Clark Marina in downtown Omaha.  NP Dodge Park is more than 10 miles North of downtown Omaha, and our scout crews were having trouble finding loads of trash along the shoreline, as is often most prevalent downstream of any big city.  On top of that, the weeds on the banks were high up, way over our heads!  Where would we take 200+ volunteers?   

Regardless, the show must go on right?  So we scouted 10 miles of the river, flagging any site that looked people friendly, even if there wasn't much trash, we could only hope that the volunteers would enjoy hanging out on the bank of the river on such a beautiful day.  Despite not seeing the trash, we knew it was there.  Much of what we saw were big tanks, barrels and docks that had been ripped apart and sent downstream after last year's monumental flood.

On Thursday, we had hooked up with a great group of volunteers from Mutual of Omaha and cleaned up a stretch of river just above the Narrows River Park.  In just a few hours, the crew had cleaned up 1 ton of trash to include a boat load of tires!  So that was our first clue, that there was indeed an assortment of garbage littering the banks of the Big Muddy, even if we were upstream of Omaha.

Well the big day arrived, and the weather was gorgeous!  Craig Howell from Mayor Suttle's office and their amazing Americorps Vista volunteers really saved the day.  They efficiently got registration set up, and then broke down in preparation for lunch which at the last minute had been switched to Sam & Louie's Pizza!  Thanks to Craig's hard work, we were able to get lunch for the hundreds of volunteers donated, which really helps keep Missouri River Relief's costs down. 

Then the volunteers started to arrive, our crew got the boat ramp ready with trash bags, tools, and our safety & dispatch areas ready, the boat drivers had a meeting, and then it was time to start loading volunteers in boats.  Before you know it, we had boat load after boat load of volunteers going out on the river.  Over half of the people I talked to in my boat had never been on the river before, some didn't really know what to expect, but after educating the volunteers about what we were doing out there, and why it is so important, I sensed that all of the volunteers had a really good time crawling around on the banks of the Big Muddy.

After bringing the volunteers back for lunch just a couple hours later, part of our lunch program is the "Git that Garbage" Trash Contest!  As the volunteers happily finished their pizza, Jennifer Morrel from the National Park Service gave a great talk about the animals of the Missouri River, and showed some beautiful otter & beaver pelts.  Then it was time to show off our trash treasures from the day.  We were so happy to see the excitement in the kids eyes as they proudly showed off their animal finds from the morning, and other odd trash treasures.  Check out our entire trash tally to include the Trash Contest entries below!

 

The rest of the afternoon, we finished loading all of the trash onto a barge donated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  On Friday, we had set up empty dumpsters donated by Waste Management & Remelt Industries for landfill & scrap metal trash.  We had a separate pile for tires which was being picked up on Monday from the Bridgestone "One Team One Planet" program, and unfortunately, we had a fairly large pile of hazardous waste chemical jugs and barrels to deal with too.  The Army Corps guys helped us off load all of it on Monday, and took the hazardous waste and dozen blue & white 55-gallon barrels.  They were such a huge help!

We certainly couldn't have done it without the help of all of our sponsors, partners & volunteers.  Thank you Omaha/Council Bluffs!

 Here's the results from a successful day of cleaning up the banks of the Missouri River:

Omaha Missouri River Cleanup

NP Dodge Park, Omaha, NE

September 22^nd, 2012

Total Volunteers: 208

MRR Crew:  15

Boats:  8  (5 Missouri River Relief, 2 Nebraska Game & Parks, 1 Army Corps of Engineers)

River Miles:  8 Missouri River miles (624-632)

River Level: 15.42 ft  (Omaha Missouri River Gage)

Tires: 58  (1 ton)

Landfill Tonnage:  2.7 tons 

Scrap Metal: 1.5 tons

Total Tonnage:  5.2 Tons!

Groups & Agencies Involved:  Missouri River Relief, Mayor’s Suttle's Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Back to the River, Captain Planet Foundation, Constellation Energy, Gallup, Inc., Northern Natural Gas, Sam & Louie’s Pizza, Harrah’s, Bridgestone "One Team One Planet", City of Council Bluffs, IA, City of Omaha, NE, Country Inn & Suites, Green Omaha Coalition, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, Pottawattamie County Conservation, Remelt Industries, Waste Management, Big Muddy Urban Farm, G4S, Boy Scout Troop 510, Americorps Vista, Leo Club, LDS Mormon Church, Keep Iowa Beautiful and the National Park Service

Names of River Teams:  River Rats, Griffindoor, King Cobra, Stormin’ Mormons, Big Brown, The Saber, Tigers, Slimeballs, Kick Butt, Mudders, Broncos, Asian Carp, G4S, Rip Rap

Trash Tally!!!!

185 Bags of Trash

58 Tires

18 Chunks O’ Styrofoam

3 Coolers

6 – 5 gallon Plastic Buckets

18  - 55 gallon Plastic Barrels

3 – 55 gallon Metal Drums

1 – 25 gallon Metal Drum

3 Refrigerators

1 Refrigerator Door

1 Ice Dispenser

5 Propane Tanks

1 Car Seat

1 ½ Bed Springs

3 ½ Bed Frames

2 Couch Cushions

6 Chairs

1 Picnic Table

Shelves

4 Counter Tops

2 Chaise Lounge Chairs

1 Car Door

2 Car Mats

5 pieces of Carpet

1 set of Cabinet Doors

20 ft. of plastic Corrugated Roofing

20 ft. of 1 ½ inch Plastic Pipe

2 ½ Doors

30 ft. of Wiring Conduit

1 plastic Step Ladder

1 - 4’x8’ wooden Lattice

1 – 10’x20’ Dock

1 glass Window

2 ft. piece of an I-beam

400 lbs of assorted Metal

120 ft. of 1-inch Cable

100 lbs of Rebar

1 – 5 ft. Pipe

1 – 4ft. Metal Cable

1 BBQ Grill

4 TVs

1 Fishing Pole

1 Tarp

3 – 250 gallon square Plastic Tanks with cage & spout (2 with purple ink type liquid)

1 – 30 gallon Trash Can

1 – 500 gallon Metal Diesel Tank

1 Buoy

1 – 5 gallon Metal Kerosine Can

Trash Contest Entries!!! (winners in bold)

Biggest Trash:

1 bright blue Chunk O’ Styrofoam

1 part of a Bed Frame

1 fiberglass corrugated Roof

Most Artistic Trash

1 small silver Christmas Ornament

1 tiny glittery Styrofoam Ball

1 Bike Spoke decorated with Plastic Bags

1 Metal Hubcap

½ inch Metal Wire

Wierdest Trash

1 weird looking blond lady Plush Doll

1 Spongebob Wind-up Doll

1 plush Elmo Doll

1 Blow-up Can of Pork & Beans

Most Fashionable Trash

1 dirty Rag

1 grey Tank Top

1 pair of dirty Socks

1 white lacey Bra

1 size-11 High Heel Shoe

Oldest Trash

1 large Light Bulb

1 car window crank Metal Gear

1 – 5 gallon Metal Bucket Lid

Most Useful Trash

1 large Light Bulb

1 Exercise Sign

1 “No Parking” in Picnic Area Sign

1 YMCA “Parking” Sign

1 Basket Ball

1 Soccer Ball

1 Cooler

Best Animal Find

1 Goose Head Decoy

1 Duck Butt Decoy

1 Full Duck Decoy

1 pink Flamingo

1 wooden Pig-shaped Cuttingboard

1 Feather

1 Gar Skin

Best Darned Find of the Day

A 2-headed Dragon


It was a long & tiring, but ever so fulfilling day... as River Relief crew dog, Saffron can attest to.