Sept. 29, 2007 — Dozens of volunteers of all shapes and ages scoured the beach and brush from Mahogany Road to Butler Bay Saturday on St. Croix, pulling out tires, car parts, car batteries and bag after bag of glass bottles and loose trash.
The cleanup was one of many going on around all three islands as part of the territory’s annual CoastWeeks cleanup effort. (See "Hundreds of Volunteers Expected to Join in Coastweeks Cleanup.")
Coast Weeks is the territory’s extended version of the annual International Coastal Cleanup sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy.
Dozens of kids from Good Hope School, Country Day School and St. Croix Central High were among the earliest arrivals, beginning their work not long after 7 a.m. As the sun rose higher in the sky, more and more volunteers from around Frederiksted started to arrive.
This particular cleanup was the brainchild of Patrick Brannon, a Frederiksted mason.
“I started planning about three weeks ago, telling people by word of mouth,” Brannon said Saturday afternoon. "And I called [Roger W.] Morgan’s show on Friday. But I didn’t want too many people because I wanted enough food for everyone. I’m told certain people will go out and dump their trash on the beach when they hear there is going to be a cleanup too, so I didn’t want to advertise too much.”
Unfortunately, Brannon had to leave the cleanup early go to the emergency room with a painful infection.
“He’ll do anything to get out of the work he organized for everyone,” Teny Dojoles of Frederiksted said. “Just kidding, Pat. I hope you’re foot’s doing better, man.”
Frederiksted residents Kendra Garret and Michael Megison cleaned the beach from underwater. The two donned scuba gear and swam from Mahogany Road to Rainbow Beach, picking up tangled fishing line, plastic grocery bags, cans and bottles.
“It was cool,” Megison said. “I saw a spotted eagle ray while I was down there.”
Greg Maillot, a Hovensa worker, heard about the cleanup at the Lost Dog bar and restaurant.
“It makes you feel good, doing something to help out,” Maillot said. “We picked up enough car parts to make a whole car.”
Several people singled out the police for praise.
“I tell you what," a resident of Frederiksted named Chico said. “The police were super-helpful. They were on all-terrain bikes gathering tires by the side of the road. They helped with traffic, they helped with the kids who volunteered to come out, they ran bags to the dumpster on top of the four-wheelers they drove. They came out just to direct traffic and keep it safe, but they really put their heart into helping the cleanup.”
All kinds of trash were in the brush, from diapers to refrigerators. But beer bottles were the bulk of Saturday’s haul.
“Glass is the main thing we picked up today,” said Peggy Keylin, a teacher at St. Croix Country Day School. “We picked up bags and bags of glass bottles. Lots of cans too. The beer drinkers of St. Croix are really pigs.”
Keylin said she would like to see more public trash receptacles placed along the beach.
After the cleanup, the volunteers met at Rhythms at Rainbow Beach for hamburgers, hot dogs, punch and water.
Amber Walton, Shenique Jeremiah, Biko Robb, Ibn Rivera and Sonny Christopher, students from Good Hope and St. Croix Central High, were some of the volunteers who stayed after the cleanup for burgers. Most of this group cleaned up at Salt River last weekend.
Chris Elliott of Williams and Punch Partners donated all the food, which Robert Norris of Rhythms and Rainbow Beach cooked up for everyone. B.C. Supplies contributed a hundred 80-gallon trash bags and other supplies. Tonge’s Construction supplied the dumpster.
“Dee Osinski from the Waste Management Authority helped us put it all together and arranged for the trash truck and a dumpster,” Brannon said. “Countless friends and good people from town helped out too.”
To participate in other cleanups, call Kristen Maize, program manager at Friends of V.I. National Park, on St. John at 693-1392. On St. Thomas, call Keshema Webbe at 714-2333, Kemit Lewis at 693-1392 or Lillian Moolenaar at the Planning and Natural Resources Department at 774-3320, extension 5117. On St. Croix, call Marcia Taylor at 692-4046.
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