A great day for MLIRD Lakeshore Cleanup

We are so fortunate to live in a community that works to keep the Moses Lake shoreline cleaned up. What a beautiful day we had to pick up debris that is a threat to the lake and the wildlife that live there. If you've never participated in this annual event, you really should try to volunteer next year. The crew of the MLIRD have this event so organized that it is just a joy. We were first greeted by Beth (who remembers everyone's name) and Julie to sign-in, pick up our trash bags, plastic gloves, and a map of the area we were assigned. Then on to donuts (donated by Safeway) and coffee (donated by Starbucks) with all the accessories (paid for with a gift card donated by Walmart).

We were assigned Parker Horn this year and enjoyed walking along the shoreline while filling our bags with trash. Beverage/food containers, plastic bags, fishing gear, oil jugs, lots of shotgun ammo wads, bait buckets, sunglasses, and toys.... tires, wood debris, car parts, a cable reel.... the never-ending story!

After a few hours of wondering how all this stuff ended up in the lake, we began testing our muscles to lug it all back to the waiting vehicles. A special thank you to Nick and Shane from Battery Systems for helping carry the stuff back up to the road. I won't say we couldn't have done it without you... but it would have taken much longer and been way more taxing! I do hope your boss appreciates you both! You really made our day.

When we got back to the fire station, we were greeted with a chili and cornbread meal provided by Michael's and boy did that just hit the spot after being out in the fresh air. It was fun to hear stories of what others had found.

I think the best part of the day was seeing all the young people helping. Lots of scouts and school kids out working their hearts out. It was also nice to see all the employees from local businesses out there giving it their all.

Thank you everyone for being such a caring community to try to preserve our lake and trying hard to keep it nice for all of us to enjoy. My parting comment would be to "sportsmen (and women)"... please, if you want to enjoy fishing and hunting, please clean up after yourselves. All that garbage is a threat to the lake and the wildlife and no fun for the rest of us to clean up after you.

Bud and Vaughn Blethen

Moses Lake