RiverRats Gather to Clean Up Deep Creek at Belmead

by Amber Ellis, JRA's Watershed Restoration Associate/Volunteer Coordinator

 On the morning of November 15^th, 7 RiverRats and 3 other volunteers gathered out at Belmead in Powhatan to help the Sisters at Francis Emma clean up Deep Creek, a tributary of the James River. The RiverRats included, Sister Elena Henderson, Sister Jean Ryan, Cris Pond, Bill Pawelski, Mike Schlosser, Rich Marino, and Joey Klingman. Other volunteers included Tarvis Henley from Goochland, Winfred Taylor from Powhatan, and Betty McCraken with the Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District.

They put in a lot of back breaking work in the morning and filled a truck and trailer with about 800 pounds of metal trash including old lockers, culverts, and other scrap metal.  They also collected 18 large tires that were picked up and recycled by Bridgestone Tires as part of their One Team One Planet program. http://www.oneteamoneplanet.com/americas/spent-tire-program/.

To reward themselves they did what any RiverRat would do and took a canoe/kayak trip along the James River!