65°
By the end of the day they had collected 3 tons of trash, over 182 bags' worth -- including a shopping cart, a football helmet, a giant roll of chain link fencing and enough parts to just about build an entire car.
Hosted by Groundwork Hudson Valley, the event included four Yonkers sites on the Saw Mill, among them the daylighted Van der Donck Park. Farther north on the river, the cleanup tackled two more sites, scouted in advance for heavy trash buildup -- Woodlands Lake in Irvington and South County Trailway between Ardsley and Elmsford.
Spread among the various locations were students and teachers from Dobbs Ferry, Valhalla, Ardsley and Yonkers high schools; Brownie Troop 2650; employees from Hudson Valley Bank; Yonkers Bike Club; and members of the Hudson River & Beyond Kayaking Club, who fished for garbage from their kayaks.
Ardsley biology teacher Dan Barnett, working at the Woodlands Lake site, observed, “The park and lake were so much cleaner than when we started with this cleanup five years ago. This effort is clearly paying off.”
“The Great Saw Mill River Cleanup is a collective effort that succeeds only when community, business and government pull together,” said Ann-Marie Mitroff, who organizes the Groundwork event every year. “The Yonkers DPW guys were amazing, hauling bags and large debris from all of these sites throughout the day. And the trail maintenance crew of Westchester County Parks did a great job, too, carrying away tons of trash from the South County Trailway. Also, our friends at Hudson Valley Bank sponsored the event, ShopRite provided the water, and Yonkers Costco supplied the healthy snacks.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rye and receive free news updates.
