Volunteer for the Sikes Lake Cleanup

A previous year's haul

Each year, the Rolling Plains Chapter Texas Master Naturalist collaborates with Midwestern State University to clean up Sikes Lake. The public is welcome to take part. MSU provides trash bags, grabbers, and plastic gloves. Of course, if you have grabbers of your own, please bring them because we never have enough. If you do bring your own, you should mark it in some way in case you set it down, so you get it back.

The clean up is scheduled for Saturday, September 7, starting at 9 AM. We are usually done no later than 11:00.

Hope to see you there!

Jeff Corwin to be at MSU

Some may be interested in attending the MSU Artist-Lecture Series program on Thursday, October 2. Jeff Corwin will be the speaker. Tickets are free for students and faculty. $20 for the public. Tickets will be available 2 weeks before the program.

William Bryant Logan to Speak at MSU

William Bryant Logan speaks on "There's No Such Place as Away," on Thursday, October 4 at Midwestern State University, 7 PM at Akin Auditorium. Logan is an arborist and President of the Urban Arborists, Inc. tree company. There is no charge for this event, but if this speaker is like others in this series, get there early if you want a seat.

For Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists, this presentation may be counted for advanced training.

Upcoming Speakers and Issues of Interest

Midwestern State University has a Speakers and Issues program. They bring in a lot of interesting speakers--some of which I have mentioned in past blogs. There are two speakers coming up that will probably be of special interest to readers. This series is open to the public and free. The programs start at 7 PM in Akin Auditorium. My past experience has been that most of these events are standing room only, so if you want a seat, it is best to arrive early.

- 27 February: James K. Galbraith, economist. "Inequality and the Economic Crisis."
- 29 March: T. Colin Campbell, retired Professor Emeritus of at Cornell University. "The Health Care Crisis and Its Missing Link."

Successful Sikes Lake Cleanup

On Saturday September 10, the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists and Midwestern State University hosted a cleanup of Sikes Lake on the MSU campus.

The Master Naturalists have done an annual cleanup of the lake for several years. MSU provides a canopy, trash bags and hot dogs/drinks. The Master Naturalists provide the labor. We always have small groups of children from local schools help in the project. This year the turn out was overwhelming--200 community volunteers (mostly children and MSU students) turned out to help. This is significantly more than previous years. Lots of people combined with a low lake level due to the drought added up to a record amount of trash being collected. In less than 2 hours, the volunteers bagged 4000 pounds of trash.

Way to go!

The Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists also conduct a cleanup of Plum Lake every quarter. The next cleanup will be on September 24, followed by a cleanup at Lake Arrowhead State Park.

The Red River Group of the Sierra Club decided last night to Adopt a Highway through the Texas Department of Transportation.

More group and more individual participation could make our community a nicer place to live. Could you help Keep Wichita Falls Beautiful?