Friends of Deckers Creek received a helping hand, or rather several, in an effort to brighten the path along the waterway the organization is named for.
In collaboration with the Morgantown Tree Board and other organizations, FODC recruited volunteers to help clean up litter along the rail-trail and Deckers Creek on Saturday. Those willing to stick around after the 9 a.m.-noon pick-up session were also invited to help plant trees at Marilla Park.
“We’ve done this several times,” FOCD Executive Director Sarah Cayton said of the cleanup. “It’s extremely successful. We usually have around 100 participants and have gathered thousands and thousands of pounds of trash.”
The expected “millions of Bud Light cans and Starbucks cups” are collected, along with some more unusual items, such as mattresses, tires, TVs and tents.
“There was a wooden rocking horse, one year,” Cayton said. “And shopping carts, there was one in the middle of the creek behind Kroger that I can remember.”
Volunteers break off into two groups, one sticks close to the trail near Marilla Park and another, led by Cayton, heads out W.Va. 7 into more treacherous terrain.
“It’s family friendly,” Cayton said of the event, as those with younger kids are able to gather trash near the trail, while only the older, more experienced garbage collectors venture farther.
The West Virginia Division of Forestry delivered roughly 100 saplings for the tree planting, through the Mountaineer Treeways Program. And the Morgantown Tree Board assisted with selecting the proper trees, donation of mulch and helping at the event. The saplings will help with erosion along the banks of Deckers Creek.
“I think the community gets excited about cleanups because they walk by this stuff everyday, and it looks awful,” Cayton said. “This way, they get to do something about it themselves.”
