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Litter cleanup has helpers paddling
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Mill Creek Park Board Commissioner Rick Shale picks litter from plants around shore of Lake Glacier in the park Thursday. WD LEWIS
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Mark Dolak of Austintown shows a piece of plastic litter he pulled from Lake Glacier in MillCreek Park during a clean up effort by a group of kayakers. WD LEWIS
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Carol Vigorito Mill Creek Park Naturalist paddles a kayak on Lake Glacier thursday during a clean-up.
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Sue Reniff of Boardman shows a plastic bobber she pulled from Lake Glacier during a clean up effort Thursday by a group of kayakers. wd lewis
By ASHLEY LUTHERN
People caught littering in the park will be issued a citation and could face a $100 fine, said a park officer.
YOUNGSTOWN — For Sara Scudier, a love for kayaking didn’t develop until late in life.
“I won a free kayak rental at Riverside Gardens and tried it last summer,” said the 59-year-old Youngstown resident. “Now, I’m addicted!”
Scudier was one of a dozen volunteers who climbed into kayaks and paddled into the waters of Lake Glacier to help collect litter Thursday morning.
The collection effort in Mill Creek MetroParks was supervised by park naturalist Carol Vigorito, who said that the annual litter cleanups help keep users of the park and the wildlife safe.
“It’s important to pick up bobbers and line. We’ve had to rescue a lot of geese whose feet have literally been tied together with fishing line,” she said.
Fishing is permitted in Lakes Glacier and Newport, and both lakes offer kayak and pedal boat rentals. The chance to kayak for free is something that draws people to litter collections on the water, Vigorito said.
“This is always a popular event, and we’ll probably have another one in the fall,” she said. “We’ve seen a great increase of interest in kayaking.”
Scudier said that she always looks forward to the litter pickup.
“This is fun, because usually kayaking is more of a sport, but now it’s like a game, trying to get as much trash collected as possible,” Scudier said.
Even though Vigorito said that cleanup collections at Lake Glacier always find a lot of litter, park police said that a majority of it doesn’t come from park users.
“Most of the trash around and in Glacier comes from creeks or storms that bring it from outside the park into it,” said Lt. Bruce Emery from the MetroParks police.
Anyone caught littering will be issued a citation and can face a fine of $100 for a first offense or around $250 for a second offense, he said.
“It’s been weeks since we’ve had a dumping report, and if we do hear something, we call someone from maintenance out immediately,” Emery said, adding that litter is generally not a problem at the park.
The most common items found in Lake Glacier are plastic water bottles, aluminum cans and plastic foam cups, Vigorito said.
“It’s important to collect as much as we can to keep the park clean and safe,” she said.
Ida Krcelic, 66, of Petersburg, uses the park frequently for hiking and came out to help with the litter collection.
“My husband and I go to the park all the time,” she said. “It keeps us healthy and active.”
Krcelic is part of a hiking club called the Wednesday Walkers, and some of the group came with her to kayak and pick up trash along trails that they use.
“We feel like we should help out and keep the park beautiful,” Krcelic said.