2013 Potomac Watershed Cleanup, Alice Ferguson

One day each year my family and I walk across the street to a National Park and help pick up trash.  We've been doing it since our sons were toddlers.  It's become a tradition everyone in the household looks forward to.  We are lucky enough to live near the C&O Canal and the Potomac River and as we pick up trash we are teaching our sons about stewardship and an appreciation for nature.

This year we got to know the river very well as I lost my phone during the cleanup.  I spent most of the day retracing my steps until the third (or was it fourth time) I fished it out of leaf covered water by the shore.  I thought that at least finding it in the water would save me from needing to buy a replacement case for the new phone I would be buying later that night until I realized that the phone had turned on.  It had been lost for six hours and was submerged in about a two feet of still water and debris on the side of the shore.  I don't know how I was so lucky to not only find it, but to also find that it still worked, make phone calls and even connect to the Internet.  I was afraid I wouldn't find it until next year's clean-sweep!

Here are some of my photos from the 2013 Alice Ferguson Potomac River Watershed Cleanup.

Point of Rocks Group

Fueling Up

Empty bags at the start.  I think some of the bags were even leftovers from past years.
Talk about conservation.

Fishing….for a CD.
  Wonder if it still plays and if the library in which it was borrowed from will waive the late fee.

We found a lot of golf balls.

One of the most unusual items was a ski that I found.

Send the kid into the chained off area for some trash.

My son (in red) is taking lots of grief from the hooligan in the jean jacket.
He wants my son's golf balls and won't just sit back and enjoy the found rubber duckie.

Start 'em young!

Cleanup Crew

My husband with a "Relax" Beer huggie that he found.