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!

A Trashy Weekend

Some people posted on a local newstation Facebook page that they were ashamed at the litter around town for the  Hotter 'n Hell Hundred. Of course, most of their ire was directed at the City of Wichita Falls which had been putting out a yeoman's effort to ensure the city looked nice for the 15,000 riders. I wasn't very nice and offered to direct the complainers to a number of groups that pick up litter around town on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, no one contacted me.

Trash at Sikes Lake

June got a little muddy

 One such cleanup was the annual Sikes Lake cleanup that is the Saturday following Labor Day each year. The Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist chapter joins up with Midwestern State University to do a lake cleanup. We have had as many as 200 volunteers show up. This year, there were probably about 25 - 30 people, which was enough.  Although the amount of trash in the truck may not seem like a lot, that's a big truck.

One of the hardest working volunteers was June, who ended up muddy, but keep up good humor throughout the project.

Trash near Lake Wichita

More trash in same area

There are still a lot of places that need a good cleanup. The next day I was birding out around Lake Wichita and came across this trashy area. I took the picture with my cell phone, so it isn't the best, but if you click on the photos you will get a better idea.

If everyone did their best to reduce the amount of trash they produce and to dispose of the trash they do responsibly, then we wouldn't have to be embarrasssed when we have company. We can all pick up around our houses and businesses. I have to do a litter patrol around our house at least once a week to pick up the trash people through out of their cars.

In addition to the annual Sikes Lake cleanup, the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist chapter cleans up Plum Lake quarterly. The Friends of Lake Arrowhead State Park host at least one park cleanup a year and there are several groups that do Adopt-a-Highway areas. The one I participate in is along Sisk Road with the Red River Sierra Club group. Annually the Keep Wichita Falls Beautiful hosts a city-wide cleanup in April.

There are lots of places that need a cleanup. Take a trash bag with you when you walk, get involved in one of the groups that does a cleanup, or organize a group yourself.

Sikes Lake Cleanup

I have been really lax about blogging of late--it is just too easy to put up a really short announcement on Facebook or Twitter. But I am going to try to do better as some things really need more focus than that.

Anyway, if you're looking for a way to contribute to the community, come out to the annual Sikes Lake Cleanup on September 8. Last year we had over 200 volunteers. No need to RSVP, just come. I will be leading a bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park that morning, but will be at Sikes Lake as soon as possible (probably by 9:30) to take part.

We are generally done by 11:00 and then pass out hot dogs, chips and drinks to the volunteers.

By the way, if you would like to get involved in a more interactive format, "Like" us on Facebook at Living Green in Wichita Falls or follow us on Twitter @LiveGreenWF.

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?