Neponset River Cleanup in Hyde Park on  Sat., September 6 from 8am-1pm

Are you looking to make a difference in your community?  Can you volunteer for a few hours to help the environment?  NepWRA needs people like you! 

The Neponset River Watershed Association, along with an extraordinary group of local volunteers and partners, is sponsoring the third annual Neponset River cleanup on Saturday, September 6 from 8am-1pm, with a rain date of Sunday, September 7 (same time). The clean-up will serve to bring together community members from across the 14 towns of the Neponset River Watershed area in an effort to increase awareness of the River, and promote its use as a recreational resource for everyone.

“The clean-up is an opportunity for area residents to spend some time outdoors and explore parts of the Neponset River that they may not normally see.  This will give people a chance to get in touch with a piece of nature right in their own back yard.” said Hyde Park’s Martha McDonough, the primary organizer of the event.

Pre-registration is helpful for planning purposes, but not necessary.  (Walk-ins are welcome!)  People can either sign up by emailing or calling Kristina LaFrance at lafrance@neponset.org or 781-575-0354, or by going to the website www.neponset.org/cleanup and using the on-line registration form.

Volunteers are asked to meet at 8am at the Martini Shell parking lot, 1015 Truman Parkway, Hyde Park, where they will get assigned to a clean-up site. Please bring water, sunscreen, hats, work gloves, appropriate footwear (no sandals) and work clothes that can get dirty. Snacks will be provided. No one under the age of 15 please.

Last year, over 85 volunteers worked tirelessly to remove debris of all kinds from the bed of the Neponset River, and the results were impressive.  As the morning wore on, the pile of debris grew.  There were tires, shopping carts, car engines, scrap metal, countless Styrofoam cups and plastic bags.  “It’s amazing how much trash we pulled out of the river,” said Rory McGregor, a volunteer from Sharon.  “It looked so much better after just a few hours, but we still have a lot of work left to do.”