Lake Travis Clean-Up

It was a cool, misty morning when the SAIL Pathfinders headed out to Arkansas Bend Park to take part in their sixth year of volunteering in the Lake Travis Clean-up. Rain is a natural part of SAIL Pathfinder outings, so the new members of the club got introduced to what to expect on future outings. It made for a perfect day to hunt for trash! Everyone was eager to get started and see what treasures lay out there waiting to be found. With bags and trash grabbers in hand they set off. What would they find? Half of a flip phone, a plastic salad bowl, a pair of sunglasses, a table, a mask and snorkel. The usual find of boat anchors brought smiles to the faces of those who had a plan to put them to good use. But the super find was a demolished boat house! Using teamwork and tag-teaming the pile of vinyl siding, large pieces of Styrofoam and miscellaneous pieces of rubber and wood was moved from the lake bed up the steep hillside to the waiting trailer to be hauled away. In the end 20 bags of trash, 4 boat anchors, 2 large pieces of Styrofoam and a boathouse were removed from the park. The final assessment of the experience was summed up by one young Pathfinder who said, “I didn’t know work could be fun! I had fun!”

More opportunities await these young people. In October the club will be handing out bags to the community for the purpose of collecting non-perishable food items for the Capitol Area Food Bank. In November a banquet is planned for a group of Senior Citizens. And, in December the plan is to take part for the third year in the reforestation efforts at Bastrop State Park following the 2011 Labor Day fires.

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