By Rebecca Kelley
Staff Writer
Goodrich – Just about everything but the kitchen sink was pulled out of Kearsley Creek during a creek cleanup project.
On May 17, volunteers donned waders and pulled years? worth of debris from the creek.
The cleanup effort was the idea of resident Michael Kent. One day as he was walking along the banks of the creek near the village Commons Park, he noticed the trash along the riverbanks. That’s when he decided to do something about it.
‘I knew there were only a couple of weeks to pull this cleanup effort together, because I knew the state would be coming to inspect the dam shortly and I knew nobody would show up on Memorial Day,? Kent said. ‘So I had to pull it together fast.?
‘There were a lot of things that dated back to around the 1970s. You know, those old-fashioned ash trays, we pulled out a bunch of those. We pulled out an old 1970s Schwinn bicycle, three 33 gallon black metal drums that were very corroded,? said Kent.
‘There was auto glass and parts, furniture, car tire rims, tires and metal. We even pulled out a large set of monkey bars. We dug with our hands through the muck until we could get to a place to pull it out. A lot of it looked like stuff you would find in a dump, like a lot of trash. There were five loads of just scrap metal.?
Kent said the project really pulled the Goodrich community together to make the cleanup a success.
‘It was really neat to see everyone working so hard and smiling at the same time,? he said.
Approximately 50 residents showed up to do the dirty work. Some, Kent said, were business owners, students and village council members. ‘A man came from Lapeer,? said Kent. ‘He came because he likes to get involved with the river projects within the waterways.?
Even local businesses, Kent said, wanted a piece of the action. ‘The Beacon and Bridge corner gas station donated all of the water for everyone to drink. Brown’s Do It Yourself Center donated all of the supplies such as gloves. We got our equipment from Ken’s Redi Mix. They provided a crane lift to pick up the heavier stuff such as washers, dryers and hot water tanks.?
Sven Anderson, Goodrich High School’s environmental science teacher, was there with some of his students.
‘Well, I have been doing these kinds of cleanup efforts with my students for a long time now, so it was just another workday for me. However, this was a really cool project,? said Anderson. ‘Some of my students kept saying, ‘Are there any other projects we can do like this?? When kids are involved in this sort of thing it benefits everyone because they will be the people who will actually do things like this in the future.?
Anderson said people’s values have changed over the years.
‘Old farmers used to dig a hole and dispose of things this way. We are beginning to understand that nature is very fragile.?