By Tom Moore | For The Tribune

The best way to honor the memory of two Jennings County environmental heroes is to pick up where they left off.

The 38-member crew gathered early April 27 for the annual Kevin’s Kleanup (honoring past president Kevin Jayne) of the Muscatatuck River. The event is conducted by Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society, founded by Dan Shade in 1998.

Many were present by 7:30 a.m. and even the latest straggler was off to the river by 8:30 a.m.

The overcast 60 degree climate suited equipment manager Les Ticknor and treasurer Christinia Jayne as they organized registration and equipment issue, assisted by Friends’ president Jerry Davis and his wife Joan Davis.

Thirty hearty souls inked their name on the register, received instructions, scrunched in for photographer/FMRS secretary Avis McGovern’s group photo and set sail for the multiple sites.

Ticknor hung at the Commons, cleaning a path to the State Road 7 bridge. He was rewarded with a large bag of trash that included a flat-screen television and almost every reflector from the bridge above — longevity is not on the epoxy’s pro list. Rewards director and Les’ wife, Cherie Ticknor will contact the Indiana Department of Transportation to confer concerning a solution.

Ticknor collected many wrecked car parts and will bring suitable tools to the fall Shady Sweep to rake the copious cigarette butts, which directly poison the water with nicotine.

Just across the highway, the event’s largest group Scout Troop 541 led by Josh Shaw were tidying the Tunnel Mill and Baldwin Cemetery.

Stephanie and Solomon Shaw, Gabe Studer, George Good, Jonathan Adams, Wyatt and Zander Madden, Christopher (Topher) Kelley, Braxton Petro and Zach Wettrick separated into several patrol packs with leaders.

Shaw offered insights about the area while scouring the historically significant landscape. Tunnel Mill drew visitors at construction, being the first west of the Alleghenies in the early 1800’s, attracting flat bottom boats that would do commerce as far as the Gulf of Mexico with the lumber milled at this site.

The troop saw remnants of the wood diverting dam still present on the Vernon Cemetery side. As the patrols paced through the tunnel, Shaw said the present 7-foot tall by 60-feet wide tunnel began with six-feet by six-feet dimensions, then water did the rest of the work.

After covering the Baldwin Cemetery domain, the group amassed two tires, a nitrous canister and five bags of trash. Troop 541 then traveled to Morgan’s Overlook, where State Road 3 and State Road 7 split, filling three bags with tossings, one needle (promptly placed in a Mountain Dew bottle) and one tire. Veteran cleanup soldier Dave Shaw helped chauffeur the troop.

Jerica LaPine led the second largest group of the day down the Muscatatuck Trail, finding lots of vape pens. J.D. Wilson was with LaPine finding mostly paper junk. Levi Hernandez, Tim Anderson and Zena the dog were cleaning machines on the trail.

Krista Huff set out from the group to a small branch adjacent to State Road 7 near Indiana Hills and stuffed two white trash bags in an hour. A lot of time could have been spent at this location cleaning.

The third largest group, gathered by veteran inspirer George Haysler and seven-year cleaner Caydence Haysler, 9, went to the Rock Rest Falls area.

D.J. Campbell, Damion Maschino and Cody Galliher recovered a car seat cover, a cart tire with axle, nine non-winning lottery tickets and lots of rusty metal.

The recent rains led to a landslide which revealed ancient trash and washed lots of treasures into the creek bed river.

The Davises policed the Green Bridge in Crosley, finding little litter in a limited area. They did drag out two tired and gathered garlic mustard for the remaining time.

Becca McClellan, Avis McGovern, Jayne and I went on a waste gathering walk that commenced at Sullivan’s Ford in the southwest quadrant of the county. The big find was a tire on the rim that was quickly slashed with McClellan’s blade disemboweling mounds of sand and bleeding quarts of river water.

Donnie Miller helped with a gate, and Carrie Manowitz stopped to offer encouragement. The river area was clean; a full bag of trash was foraged by the foursome from the roadside. Dog Farm Bridge, between Diekhoff’s and the Vernon Bridge was the next port of call where they divided into twos and conquered about one quarter mile of river bank, the parking lot, the bridge area, and some roadside.

One tire was sequestered from the sand, lots of cans, car parts, some garlic mustard and hemlock, and a bag of trash from the road area. The road warriors then descended upon County Road 20N. Each person picked up a 50 gallon bag of plastic and assorted litter in 40 minutes. Four hours would be required for an acceptable level of cleanliness.

Josh Day and Paul greeted the volunteers at the Jennings County Highway Garage. The trash was placed in a loader bucket equipped with a weight scale. John Post took care of the recycled tires at the Jennings County Recycling Center. The trash for the day amounted to 360 pounds. The seven tires (record low) weighed 220 pounds for a total of 580 pounds, a record low.

FMRS totals for all clean ups is 287,063 pounds of trash, 2,636 tires and 4,075 volunteers.

Sherri Maschino and Sheila Richart with the Jennings County Highway Department worked with FMRS officials to coordinate the cooperation for the event. Tom Moore said he is grateful.

Food service director, Lois Kellar, organized a buffet of staples, desserts, and drinks. The table included five Lakeside pizzas, a variety of Papa John’s pizzas, two hundred McDonald’s chicken nuggets, and 25 wheat and white bread Subway sandwiches.

The United Methodist Church members provided; ham and beans and brownies from Vicki Hall, chocolate chip cookies from Bette Eggleston, and two chilies, taco soup, hot dogs, sloppy Joes, and Rice Krispy treats all from Kellar. Kathy Marsh, Christina and Denny Wells, and Ed Kellar enabled a feast for all.

The New Bethel Methodist church provided its pavilion at the Jennings County Fairgrounds for the clean up crew.

Volunteers were able to choose from two T-shirt styles and an insulated FMRS lunch bag under the guidance of Cherie Ticknor.

Another cleanup, another remembrance of Dan, Kevinand others, another chance to be with people who cherish the environment and are willing to devote their time and talents to the effort.

“Mother Nature thanks you.”