Mohican cleanup: On Sept. 10, it's time to stop talking trash and do something about it
It’s time to call the trash mob to action. We’ve got a river to clean up. And maybe a road or two.
Here in Mohican Country we’re blessed with a State Scenic River and an Ohio Scenic Byway — the Mohican and Wally Road respectively. That can also be a curse. Both serve as scenic conduits for hordes of tourists who help sustain our economy.
Unfortunately, for some tourists and a few locals, the river and Wally Road also serve as trash receptacles.
Previous outdoors column: Irv Oslin: Not all who wander are lost — until they follow ‘Sycamore’
This year's Mohican River cleanup is Saturday, Sept. 10
About five years ago Friends of the Mohican River Watershed reinstated annual end-of-summer litter sweeps on the Mohican River. (By way of disclosure, I’m one of the founders of that organization. If you can’t find a club that would have you as a member, you have to start your own.)
One of the nice things about the river sweeps is that volunteers don’t need to own a boat to participate. Area liveries have provided canoes and shuttle service. In the next couple of weeks we’ll be hounding people to work out the particulars for all that. One thing has been worked out, the date. This year’s cleanup will be Saturday, Sept. 10.
That’s the Saturday after Labor Day.
Hope you can make a commitment to help out in any way you can.
It's about getting out there, tidying up the Mohican and having fun
We went from 30 cleanup volunteers the first year to 300 the next. Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic took its toll and we had to scale back. Not that it’s about numbers. It’s about getting out there, tidying up our beloved Mohican and having fun. Messy fun, but fun nonetheless.
More: Mr. Irv leads the Simpkins family on a misguided canoe trip
Generally, we cover the Mohican River from the canoe livery at Mohican Adventures south of Loudonville to what had been Smith’s Campground, now Lost Horizons Family Campground. This year we’ve been asked to also cover the stretch from Greer to the Bridge of Dreams at Brinkhaven.
Typically, we meet around 10 a.m. at Mohican State Park and go from there.
Again, all this is in the planning stages. But you can count on the Sept. 10 date. Please mark that on your calendar, the back of your hand, or post it on your refrigerator. Or a friend’s refrigerator. Or a stranger’s refrigerator. (Remember that, in certain jurisdictions, there are laws against entering people’s houses uninvited.)
In the meantime, if you have your own boat, a few hours to spare, and a sense of misadventure, you might want to consider being part of a trash mob. That would involve small spontaneous river cleanups. Preferably done on a weekend day when tourists are around. This might inspire them not to litter in the first place. That might be a lot to ask but we can hope.
Cleanup information and other fun facts you might not know about the Mohican Watershed can be found on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/MohicanRiverFriends
Meanwhile, don’t be afraid to organize — or disorganize — your own trash mob cleanup.
Even if you’re just a mob of one.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Sept. 10 is Mohican River cleanup time; can you help?
