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Health & Fitness

Another Creek Cleanup in the Bag!

A small but dedicated group of volunteers braved the heat to help the PCWA at the annual Fountain Farms Park cleanup.

In spite of the heat, the watershed work session at Fountain Farms Park went off without a hitch. Eleven dedicated volunteers came out to lend a hand, and I am pleased to say that we didn't lose anyone to heat exhaustion! Plenty of water and Gatorade kept everyone hydrated, and the pool filled with ice was a treat. I don't remember the biting flies being as awful as they were today, but we even survived those.

David was happy to have the opportunity to kill some evil knotweed, and we got rid of at least some of the invasive bittersweet. (Those of you who visit the creek at Fountain Farms should be aware that there is a massive amount of poison ivy all along the creek—if you go, use ivy block or where long pants and long sleeves.) Beth Bresnahan was pleased to note that the total amount of trash pulled from the creek has steadily decreased over the years—our haul this year was one bicycle, one tire, a metal bumper, nine bags of trash, a couple of trash cans, a pile of branches and assorted litter and debris.

I went to the park very early this morning to continue sanding and painting the jungle gym. While pondering who the initials "JAH" might belong to, I realized that the parents of these kids are probably more to blame than the kids. I went to FF park twice this week around dinner time. The first time there were eight teenagers at the picnic table—after they left I spent about half an hour picking up cigarette butts, trash and beer cans. Then last night, a young man and young lady were sharing a beverage at the picnic table while he rolled a joint—which he quickly got rid of when he saw that I had a camera. A few minutes after that, two boys came walking into the park—rather than picking up a Styrofoam cup on the ground, one of them just kicked it along before they made their way to the back of the park, out of sight.

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So, thinking about these kids while I was sanding, I came up with a couple of thoughts that in a perfect world might actually be solutions.

Parents could take a walk to the park with their kids—yes, even the teenagers! Have them pick up a piece of trash or two—show them how by picking up some litter yourself. Take a look at the graffiti covering the jungle gym (be sure to comment if you see your own kid's initials!)

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Here's the really tough part: you didn't graffiti the equipment, and your kids didn't do it—why not come back with some sandpaper and paint, with your kids, and work together to clean it up anyway. Let your kids know that if the graffiti comes back, your family work crew will be back. Word will quickly spread from your kids to the others that the graffiti better stop. Teach kids to take responsibility not just for their own actions, but for their peers—it's their generation's reputation they'll be salvaging.

Or take a walk past where they're hanging out—the fear of embarrassment when you say hello to them in front of their friends is a powerful weapon. Go ahead and be nosy, butt into your kid's life—don't try to be their friend, be their parent, let them know that you're willing to be the evil reason they can't hang out at the park after dark—that can get them off the hook in front of their friends. "Sorry, I can't go, my rotten parents ..." etc. Maybe if we were a little tougher on these kids, we wouldn't be finding oxycodone bottles, pregnancy test kits, condom wrappers, beer cans and crack bags in the park. To quote Dennis Miller: "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong..."

Thank you once again to the volunteers who braved the heat to help out: Marlene Robinson, Debbie Lord, David Bicking, Bridget, Eoin and Aidan (who were a big help, and an inspiration to all of us!), Beth Bresnahan, Tom Salerno, Bill Fawcett and my husband George. Check out the pictures—and give yourselves a big pat on the back!

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