LINWOOD – People gathered Sunday morning at the Linwood Public Works Yard to grab supplies and then headed out on and along the water during the 15th annual Patcong Creek Cleanup & Picnic.
There were four drop-in locations in three towns that border the inland waterway.
Those with a float plan took to the water at the Hamilton Avenue boat ramp, marinas on Ocean Heights Avenue in Egg Harbor Township and Somers Point–Mays Landing Road bridge, where the waterway connects with Great Egg Harbor Bay.
Another popular spot was Poplar Avenue in Linwood, where there was plenty of access on foot and by paddle craft.
Stockton University students Gianna Schiattarella of Manahawkin and Nick Olson of EHT, both members of the college’s Love Blue organization, started their cleanup at Ocean Heights Marina, which hosted the luncheon after the work was done.
Olson said he works for the nonprofit ocean conservation group, which holds community cleanups along the shore. It is based out of Wildwood Crest, where the group will lead a dozen cleanups this summer.
“I grew up surfing so I enjoy going to the beach a lot and I utilize the ocean,” he said.
“We started coming to cleanups and you just get a bug for it and start showing up even if your organization isn’t involved,” Schiattarella said.
It was the first time for both at the Patcong event, but Olson said he lived along the creek in Linwood and knew about it.
Somers Point mother Abrielle Dagenhart, 29, showed true commitment, picking up litter with her year-old twins Ellie and Thea sitting nearby in a jogging stroller.
“We pick up trash on the beach at Longport whenever we can, just try to help out as much as possible,” she said. “Gotta teach ’em young.”
Tammy Welsey and Jane Hu were among the parents supervising a group of National Junior Honor Society students from Belhaven Middle School, who were eager to log some service hours for their resumes.
The girls — Emily Liang, Ashley Welsey, Chloe Ren, Audrey Ren and Ruchi Sakhalkar — found and disposed of six whiskey bottles and one tequila bottle, as well as plenty of face masks, fishing line and “too many cigarettes.”
They collected three bags of trash and one bag of recyclables.
“It’s just one thing to help the Earth, picking up trash,” Ashley said.
Jim Rutala, a Linwood residents and founding member of the Linwood Environmental Commission, was among those who started the event in 2008 to clean up the creek, which is a tributary of the Great Egg Harbor River and part of the Wild and Scenic River System.
“It went well,” he said of this year’s cleanup. “We probably had close to 50 people and it was a beautiful day.”
He said participants pulled “all kinds of interesting things” out of the creek, including a box spring, a lot of lumber and a lot of glass recyclables.
“We had a lot of new people, which was great to see,” he said, naming Ocean City, Northfield, Longport, Somers Point and Egg Harbor Township as participants’ hometowns. “It used to be mostly locals but we had a much broader group this year.”
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff