Page 33 - Life On Greers Ferry Lake

Advertising Supplement River Valley & Ozark and Three Rivers Editions of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Life on Greers Ferry Lake • Sunday, May 24, 2015 • 33
Without the volunteers
picking up litter each
year after the summer
recreation season ends,
we would have several
cubic yards of trash
littering the shoreline. It
is also very important to
the local tourism in the
area; the cleanup typically
gets advertised in several
surrounding states.”
— Bennie Rorie U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager
Kip Davis, president of the Greers Ferry/Little Red River Associ- ation board of directors, said he knows of people from Oklahoma who trek to the lake each year to participate in the cleanup.
In the early days, McRae said, Garner was able to draw famous people such as cast members from the television show Hee Haw and the Mandrell sisters.
“He was able to bring all of these people together and donate the time and energy,” McRae said.
The impact of Garner’s vision has resonated throughout the United States.
Bennie Rorie, a project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the cleanup will have an impact on a national level for years to come.
That impact began in the late 1970s, when the state imple- mented what is now the annual Great Arkansas Cleanup, which includes all Corps of Engineers lakes in the state.
In 1985, then U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers sponsored legislation that requires all Federal Land Management agencies — including the Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service — to conduct similar events at their locations around the nation.
The law lists the date for this annual event as the first Saturday after Labor Day and renamed the event the Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day.
The Corps coordinates with the Greers Ferry Lake/Little Red River Association to provide supplies for volunteers, recruit partici- pants, ensure that the staging area is safe, contract for trash pickup and assign pickup areas.
The cleanup consists of volunteers reporting to any of the participating commercial marinas on the lake, trout docks on the Little Red River or to the Greers Ferry National Fish Hatchery below the dam.
“There, they receive their assignments, which could include an area of shoreline or roadsides,” Rorie said,“tickets to the lunch and entertainment, and trash bags.
“Due to a shortage of party barges,volunteers are also requested
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
This year, the Greers Ferry cleanup will be held for the 46th consecutive year.The cleanup has been the model for similar statewide initiatives. Activities abound during the annual Greers Ferry cleanup, offering fun for the entire family, as well as food.
to bring any type of boat to transport persons to the shoreline.” In the past, the barges would bring the trash back to the parks and leave it at the boat ramp, but as a result of the expensive barges and of volunteers not wanting to get their boats messy with trash, Rorie said the Corps of Engineers now contracts with an individual to go out and pick up the trash collected by the volun- teers and placed it in conspicuous locations around the lakeshore. Rorie stressed the importance of the annual cleanup, calling it “essential in helping keep Greers Ferry Lake and the Little Red
River a national showcase.”
“Without the volunteers picking up litter each year after the
summer recreation season ends, we would have several cubic yards of trash littering the shoreline,” Rorie added.“It is also very important to the local tourism in the area; the cleanup typically gets advertised in several surrounding states.This, too, has an impact on the area by highlighting the Greers Ferry Lake/Little Red River area.”
This year, the association is dedicated to keeping the event festive.
“This year we plan to have face painting, and the caricature ar tist again, as well as the bounce house for the kids,” McRae said. “We will also have the recycle-education and water-safety booth with giveaways, and a watermelon-eating contest.”
New things are also planned, including early-morning yoga, which was a hit last year. A 1-mile fun run/walk will take place as well.
Families are encouraged to design a fun run/walk T-shirt with their own cleanup logo or saying. At the end of the fun run/walk, theT-shirt contestants will be judged and prizes awarded for the most ar tistic design.
One of the many activities for the kids includes a portable aquarium provided by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
To top off the event, there will be an Augmented Reality Walk in Narrows Park, similar to what Central Park did in New York.
“Families are encouraged to locate various points throughout the park, and as they do, they can view secret messages, pictures and videos through their smartphone,” McRae said. “It’s a great way to educate people about the area and the history of the cleanup and people.”
And to continue the tradition that Garner started in the early years of the cleanup, catfish and lemonade will be served, and musical enter tainment will be provided.
This year, people can register to volunteer on the website visitgreersferrylake.org/cleanup.