Picking up the trash along the Housatonic

AMESVILLE — Volunteers turned out in Connecticut and Massachusetts towns Saturday, April 9, for a Rotary Club-sponsored day of service.

The mission at the First Light boat launch and picnic area on Dugway Road in the Amesville section of Salisbury was straightforward. Grab a bag and some gloves and clean up the beer cans, empty bait containers, and cigarette butts that line the banks of the Housatonic River.

Natalie Wadsworth, a senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and head of a group from the school called the Environmental Action League, showed a reporter what she’d collected in about 10 minutes.

Miniature bottle of  vanilla vodka? Check.

Nightcrawler container? Check.

A particularly nasty-looking fish hook? Check.

There was something that resembled a rag. “I think it was a diaper,” said Wadsworth.

Bill Pond, administrator at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, was on hand. His bag was full very quickly, and he also found what was left of a foam buoy.

Alan Lovejoy, a teacher at the high school, poured out what remained of a bottle of an energy drink before adding it to his bag.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he called out. “Was anyone thirsty?”

The river was high after recent rains, and the participants took care not to get too close to the torrent.

Bill Spalding from the Salisbury Rotary Club and Randy Chapell, the Rotary District Governor-elect, were on hand handing out supplies and exhortations.

Spalding said Rotary Clubs all over Connecticut and Massachusetts were out on similar missions. Someone from the group working in North Canaan checked in and reported a good turnout in that town.

Spalding said a group from The Hotchkiss School had postponed its effort because of the uncertain weather, and would be performing service work in Lakeville at a later date.