Remember last year's coastal cleanup event? How about the on the year before? No, we didn't think so. They were both canceled because Mother Nature had a different plan in mind for Dauphin Island.
This year Mother Nature has been much nicer to us. The Alabama Coastal Cleanup is back on it's annual schedule.
Saturday is the day. Volunteers all along the Alabama Gulf Coast will spend the morning cleaning up the coastline. The Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources is hoping to see approximately 4000 volunteers come to spend the morning making Alabama's waterways and coastline clean and litter free.
If you're looking for a way to feel really good about yourself, think about coming out for the event. A few hours' work will leave you feeling terrific. You'll have a great time and meet some really good people too.
Coastal Cleanup set for Saturday
After hurricanes interrupted efforts for the last two years, the first Coastal Cleanup throughout the Mobile Bay area since 2003 will take place Saturday, organizers said.
Volunteers working from 20 locations from Perdido Bay to Dauphin Island will start work at 8 a.m. and collect litter and other trash from waterways and beaches until about noon, said Amy King of the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. The agency's State Lands Division, Coastal Section coordinates the program.
"In the past couple of years we haven't been able to do this, and we're expecting a good turnout if the weather's good," King said. "A couple of years ago, we had Hurricane Ivan and we had to cancel everything and then Hurricane Katrina hit last year, and we were able to do a few places in Baldwin County, but we couldn't do anything in a lot of places."
The last time an areawide cleanup took place, more than 3,800 volunteers collected 82,000 pounds of trash around Mobile and Baldwin counties, King said.
This year, coordinators hope for more than 4,000 volunteers.
In Bayou La Batre, which was hit hard by Katrina's storm surge, the community did not participate in the program the last two years.
"A lot of our cleanup people are Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and you don't want kids out there with all that debris," said Debbie Jones, zone captain for the area.
This year, volunteers there will gather at Rolston Park instead of the typical meeting site because of storm damage.
On Dauphin Island, volunteers are ready to resume cleanup efforts, said Alison Rellinger, zone captain.
"We've had a lot of response already, maybe 400 people, and I expect more," she said. "We haven't done this in two years. Some people have been working to clean areas of the beach, but there are a lot of places that really need to be cleaned up."
Mike Shelton, zone captain for Weeks Bay, said that while volunteers were able to take part in the Coastal Cleanup in that area of Baldwin County last year, workers will have plenty to pick up Saturday.
At Weeks Bay, as with several other locations in coastal Alabama, organizers are asking that volunteers bring boats, if possible. "We can use boats up along Fish River, and if anyone has canoes or kayaks, those are needed in the shallow water in Weeks Bay," he said.
Zone captains said volunteers will be provided with Coastal Cleanup T-shirts, as long as supplies last, and trash bags for litter collection. Jones said volunteers should bring insect repellent, sun screen and a hat for sun protection.
Most zones will provide lunch for volunteers, usually hot dogs, when the collection is completed around noon. Jones said that in Bayou La Batre, volunteers are being asked to provide their own picnic lunch, but that drinks will be provided.