A Tire-Some Venture, River Clean Up Report

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011

A Tire-some Venture
RiverRat, John Mays sent this report about a cleanup in the Upper James:

How many river tires can fit into a 30-yard dumpster? Well at least 190. That is the final count of tires collected from a river cleanup effort on the Upper James River that was held on October 8, 2011.

Members of the Upper James River Water Trail committee organized a river clean up and covered a 15-mile stretch of river in search of any and all trash that could be removed. The big culprit this year was tires that have been deposited along different stretches of the Upper James River by floods over the years.

This was the third year of river cleanup efforts lead by Twin River Outfitters, with the logistical help of the Botetourt County Parks and Recreation & Landfill departments, who help with properly disposing of the collected river trash. We got more tires this year than the last two years combined. This year we collected 190 tires, and 2 small dump truck beds of trash. Notable items included several chairs, a barrel, 2 bikes, air conditioner, clothing items, and a fiberglass Jon boat with lots of holes in it. The volunteer group concentrated its cleanup efforts over a stretch of the James River from the Springwood boat landing to Alpine.

A partial list of river cleanup volunteers included: Roger Sillmon, Susan Sillmon, Tyler Kern, Sam Baker, Kendal Moyer, John Besher, Karen Busher, Byron Busher, Kayla Beckner, Joseph Obeshai, John Mays, Dan Mays, Michael Denton, James Manuel and Mathew Fischer.

This was truly a team effort. Special thanks to all those that helped advertise this clean up event, coordinated the removal of the debris to local land fills, and those that did the river removal work.

Thanks again to all those that helped keep our river looking great. Interested in helping out next year? We have already set next year's river clean up date for Saturday October 6, 2012. To volunteer, contact John and Dan Mays of Twin River Outfitters, 653 Lowe Street, Buchanan, Virginia, 24066. Email tro@canoevirginia.net or phone the office at 540-261-7334.