JORDAN - A sparkling clean sweep took place at the old Erie Canal path in the village of Jordan Saturday.
The third annual statewide Canal Clean Sweep, it was the first year Jordan participated. Organized by the Jordan Village Center Committee, the two-hour event began brightly in the morning sun just before 10 a.m.
The cleanup was part of Earth Day recognition, sponsored by the New York State Canal Corporation, Parks and Trails New York, and New York State Environmental Facilities.
In Jordan it followed the canal route from Locke 51 on Route 31 to Memphis.
The event was organized by the Jordan Village Center Committee, and Maureen Doyle, chairperson of the committee, organized Boy Scouts and Brownies, along with a number of adults and anyone else interested in helping, providing bags and rakes.
The canal bed in Jordan is a little more than a mile long and is lined with green grass.
The towpath along the canal, cluttered with branches and leaves, was where many of the volunteers alighted to do their work.
“The canal is unique in the village of Jordan in that the village owns both the canal and the towpath,” Doyle said.
Jordan-Elbridge Brownie Troop 189 eagerly jumped into the job. A couple of mother-daughter teams were at work. Allie Tankus, a first-grader, and her mom, Patty Tankus, worked alongside each other while Brownie leader Rachelle Salmonsen directed her daughter, Bethany, 7. Bruce Seamans brought his granddaughter, Ryann Kopp, 7, also a Brownie. Samantha Whalen helped collect leaves and brush in the canal bed, too.
Boy Scouts taking part in the Jordan clean up included Troop 143 from Memphis, led by Greg Holbrook, and Troop 57 from Jordan, directed on Saturday by Tom O'Brien.
The Memphis troop worked along the canal trail closer to Memphis, while the Jordan troop attacked the road bed along Route 317, Jordan Road. The boys are in grades 9-12 in Jordan-Elbridge high school.
O'Brien had five of his 15 scouts help him clear the trash from the roadside.
Besides being vacation week, at this time a major track meet and baseball game kept some of the others from joining in.
Jordan Road proved to be very busy, with traffic humming along for two miles. Its rolling hills meant the scouts had to be careful moving from one shoulder to the other to avoid any cars coming over the hill. Connor O'Brian, 15, and Nick Johnson, 16, both sophomores at Jordan-Elbridge high school, were working together in the brush about 15 to 20 feet from the road.
“We found a Roman candle (fireworks) by Shogun,” Johnson said, which is one of the more unusual items they found.
Taking an occasional break to sit on the guardrail, Jesse Rosebush, 12, and Zachary Williams, 11, filled their bags with the usual cans and plastic bottles.
Justin Herme, 14, a life scout who will be an Eagle Scout in a year-and-a half, worked in the ditch on the other side of the road.
“We adopted the highway three years ago,” O'Brien said, “and we just renewed for another three years.”
While the scouts made this clean up part of the village's Canal Clean Sweep/Earth Day recognition, they actually work the highway shoulders four times a year.
O'Brien said this time there isn't a lot to do because they have been regularly maintaining the cleanup.
The first time they collected trash, there were about 40 bags and another 30 of recyclables, he said.
“People are pigs,” O'Brien said of the litter. “We've got everything here from beer cans, bottles, dirty diapers, and even Cadillac hubcaps.”
He figures that some people just come with trucks and drop their trash along the highway.
The collected trash and recyclables will be disposed of appropriately.
On Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m., another canal cleanup, Turn Litter into Glitter, will take place in Weedsport behind Arby's restaurant. Cub Scout Pack 59 will clean up two miles of canal bed. Dawn Thomas, den leader for four years, is coordinating this event and expects about 30 cub scouts to help with this event, which is their first year participating in Canal Clean Sweep.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
The cleanup was part of Earth Day recognition, sponsored by the New York State Canal Corporation, Parks and Trails New York, and New York State Environmental Facilities.
In Jordan it followed the canal route from Locke 51 on Route 31 to Memphis.
The event was organized by the Jordan Village Center Committee, and Maureen Doyle, chairperson of the committee, organized Boy Scouts and Brownies, along with a number of adults and anyone else interested in helping, providing bags and rakes.
The canal bed in Jordan is a little more than a mile long and is lined with green grass.
The towpath along the canal, cluttered with branches and leaves, was where many of the volunteers alighted to do their work.
“The canal is unique in the village of Jordan in that the village owns both the canal and the towpath,” Doyle said.
Jordan-Elbridge Brownie Troop 189 eagerly jumped into the job. A couple of mother-daughter teams were at work. Allie Tankus, a first-grader, and her mom, Patty Tankus, worked alongside each other while Brownie leader Rachelle Salmonsen directed her daughter, Bethany, 7. Bruce Seamans brought his granddaughter, Ryann Kopp, 7, also a Brownie. Samantha Whalen helped collect leaves and brush in the canal bed, too.
Boy Scouts taking part in the Jordan clean up included Troop 143 from Memphis, led by Greg Holbrook, and Troop 57 from Jordan, directed on Saturday by Tom O'Brien.
The Memphis troop worked along the canal trail closer to Memphis, while the Jordan troop attacked the road bed along Route 317, Jordan Road. The boys are in grades 9-12 in Jordan-Elbridge high school.
O'Brien had five of his 15 scouts help him clear the trash from the roadside.
Besides being vacation week, at this time a major track meet and baseball game kept some of the others from joining in.
Jordan Road proved to be very busy, with traffic humming along for two miles. Its rolling hills meant the scouts had to be careful moving from one shoulder to the other to avoid any cars coming over the hill. Connor O'Brian, 15, and Nick Johnson, 16, both sophomores at Jordan-Elbridge high school, were working together in the brush about 15 to 20 feet from the road.
“We found a Roman candle (fireworks) by Shogun,” Johnson said, which is one of the more unusual items they found.
Taking an occasional break to sit on the guardrail, Jesse Rosebush, 12, and Zachary Williams, 11, filled their bags with the usual cans and plastic bottles.
Justin Herme, 14, a life scout who will be an Eagle Scout in a year-and-a half, worked in the ditch on the other side of the road.
“We adopted the highway three years ago,” O'Brien said, “and we just renewed for another three years.”
While the scouts made this clean up part of the village's Canal Clean Sweep/Earth Day recognition, they actually work the highway shoulders four times a year.
O'Brien said this time there isn't a lot to do because they have been regularly maintaining the cleanup.
The first time they collected trash, there were about 40 bags and another 30 of recyclables, he said.
“People are pigs,” O'Brien said of the litter. “We've got everything here from beer cans, bottles, dirty diapers, and even Cadillac hubcaps.”
He figures that some people just come with trucks and drop their trash along the highway.
The collected trash and recyclables will be disposed of appropriately.
On Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m., another canal cleanup, Turn Litter into Glitter, will take place in Weedsport behind Arby's restaurant. Cub Scout Pack 59 will clean up two miles of canal bed. Dawn Thomas, den leader for four years, is coordinating this event and expects about 30 cub scouts to help with this event, which is their first year participating in Canal Clean Sweep.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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