‘The river is our friend’
Volunteers work to clean up along Des Moines River
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As a group of about 25 volunteers gathered at Richardson Landing along the Des Moines River Saturday morning for the annual Webster County River Cleanup, Webster County Conservation Naturalist Karen Hansen gave part of the day's orientation.
It concerned how many garbage bags they might want to take along.
"It's up to you how many you take," Hansen said. "You take one or six; you might fill them all."
As it turned out, she wasn't kidding.
At the set-in site along River Road five miles upstream, the volunteers got busy along the shore before even setting out.
Among the items found -- several tires, a glass bowl, a high-heeled shoe, a fitted sheet, the tank from an old water heater, a dishwasher, and insulation stripped from cables.
Nothing is really a surprise.
"Somebody found a bowling ball one year and a plastic dinosaur skull," Hansen said. "It was about a foot long."
Brandon Townsend, of Dakota City, was out on the river with his wife Amy Townsend.
"My wife volunteered me," Brandon Townsend said.
He was the one who found the fitted sheet.
Was he surprised?
"No," he said. "We should take care of our land."
Shiliah Stein, of Clare, found a used tire, then spent some time knocking the sand out of it. Up the bank it went onto the growing pile of debris.
"It's pretty disgusting," Stein said. "It's not clean at all."
Jody Riskowski, of Fort Dodge, brought a group of Iowa Central Community College swim team members to the cleanup. She's the coach.
"It's a good way to experience something different," Riskowski said. "Plus we get to help the environment."
Jim Dodd, of Humboldt, found the shoe.
"It’s a high heel one," Dodd said, while taking a short breather from the truck tire he was also hauling out.
He looked around and saw all the other volunteers picking up debris and digging out old appliances from the sand, then shook his head.
"We haven't even gotten on the river yet," he said.
The volunteers were all motivated by the same thing -- their love of the environment and a desire to help keep it clean.
Jeff White, of Ames, summed it up.
"This is our spot," he said. "The river is our friend."