Local groups getting ready for annual Erie Canal-side cleanup effort

Apr. 19—This weekend, numerous volunteers will be taking to sections of the Erie Canal towpath with gloves and rakes in hand to do some spring cleaning.

Groups of all sizes across New York state are taking part in the annual Canal Clean Sweep initiative organized by the state Canal Corporation and Parks & Trails New York. Canal Clean Sweep has volunteers clearing trash and spiffing up the Erie Canalway Trail and nearby green spaces.

Several community groups in Lockport, starting in the West End, will be grabbing the rakes and gloves in an effort to do some spring cleaning along the canal.

Kathy O'Keefe, owner of the Windsor Village Artisan and Antique Market, will be leading a group of about two dozen volunteers for cleanup along State Road and Stevens Street on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

This will be the eighth year O'Keefe has organized her cleanup group. She sees it as another way to stoke community engagement for a good cause in the West End.

"I have a hard time not getting involved. Don't throw me a ball and expect me not to throw it," O'Keefe said.

At First Presbyterian Church, Pastor Jim Hardy will be leading community cleanup efforts at Upson Park and the Flight of Five locks on Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m. Hardy believes the event is something that resonates with both the Lockport community and his congregation.

"We feel called to do it, in part because it's Earth Day and we feel that the Presbyterian Church is very progressive when it comes to environmental issues," Hardy said.

Having participated in Canal Clean Sweep for more than 15 years, Hardy said First Presbyterian's group of 20 to 30 volunteers have retrieved a wide range of disposed items near the canal including shopping carts, bicycles and even a lost dog that was eventually reunited with its owner.

"It was in the water and the kids saved it from drowning," he said.

Jeff Degnan, who organizes the Lockport Canal Task Force at Erie Canal Discovery Center, has led efforts to clean up the canal and surrounding areas for more than 25 years.

For the past couple years, his group have collected the most litter of any participating groups in the state, disposing of approximately 30 to 40 gallons of litter in contractor size garbage bags.

Degnan believes that the annual event has made an impact on the area.

"Every year we've had less and less litter to pick up. The amount of litter and trash is trending downward... I hope that helps some," he said.

Degnan's group will focus on the areas around the Lockport Locks and Canal Street from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

In Gasport, T.J. Brugmann is leading his small group for a third year on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Brugmann and a crew of six volunteers plan to clean up a roughly 6,000 foot area along the canal from his property, 8464 Telegraph Road, past the Gasport Marina and toward Reynales Basin Bridge.

While driving along Telegraph Road on Tuesday afternoon to trace the cleanup, he pointed out the most common litter along their route — beer cans thrown from passing cars and settled at a nearby culvert.

"This just seemed to be some kind of magnet," Brugmann said.

He identified littering and dumping as ongoing issues in his neighborhood.

"We did maybe 100 pounds of garbage last year. But there was way too many cans, probably double from (the year before)... It filled two garbage cans," Brugmann said.

As he has done in previous years, Brugmann plans to donate the deposit money from the cans to a local charitable organization.

In Middleport, residents Cindy and Dave Miller will be back at the helm of village cleanup efforts from 9 a.m. to noon today after the Middleport Beautification Committee led it for two years. Their group will cover a 1-1/2 mile stretch by the lift bridge on Main Street.

For more information about, and to sign up for, any Clean Sweep gathering, go to: https://www.ptny.org/events/canal-clean-sweep.