DO YOUR PART FOR THE LAKE

STORY BY BETSY ILER & PHOTO BY KENNETH BOONE

OOne lucky volunteer next month will win the Golden Picker prize, a large trash bag filled with gift items from local businesses and individuals, in gratitude for picking up trash during the Renew Our Rivers cleanup. Originated by Alabama Power and coordinated by Lake Martin Resource Association, this year’s ROR event is set for Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5. The cleanup collected 16 tons of trash from lake area shorelines and roadways last year when Tiffany Sanders won the

Golden Picker bag valued at nearly $1,000. Last year’s Golden Picker bag included gift cards from local restaurants, T-shirts, beach towels, coffee mugs, a Bluetooth speaker, Tervis tumblers, hats, picnic blankets, home décor items and more. To be eligible for the Golden Picker prize bag, send a photo of yourself at the cleanup to editor@lakemagazine.life by Nov. 15 or post the photo on Instagram @ #goldenpicker or #cleanuplakemartin. Local businesses and individuals may donate Golden

Picker prize bag items by emailing Lake magazine

Editor-in-Chief Betsy Iler at editor@lakemagazine.life or delivering items to Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc., at 548

Cherokee Rd., Alexander City. While the fall extension of the summer pool level on

Lake Martin is not expected to hinder cleanup operations in November, it does present some challenges, said LMRA president John Thompson, the lead man on the cleanup team. “Usually, we like to get some people out there doing some preliminary bagging of trash and that sort of thing as the water level goes down, so the lake levels staying up does hamper that some. To help with that, we’ve asked Alabama Power’s shoreline crews to report in any areas they see that might need cleanup,” Thompson explained. “If we can get those places on a list, we can go right to them just a few days before the cleanup weekend.”

The broad scale emphasis on organized cleanups by neighborhoods will continue this year, Thompson said. A subcommittee of LMRA volunteers is working to get the word out to areas of the lake where dumpsters will be available for neighborhood volunteers.

“If we can clean up the roadways, we prevent trash from being washed into the lake when it rains. Then, that’s trash we don’t ever have to pick up out of the lake,” Thompson said.

Picker tools and trash bags will be available for free to volunteers during the event, and T-shirts will be given to volunteers that drop collected trash at designated dumpster sites between 8 a.m. and noon on both days of the cleanup. The custom designed T-shirts for the cleanup will feature artwork from the Renew our Rivers art contest held annually at Stephens School.

Dumpsters will be located at the Kowaliga public boat ramp, Wind Creek State Park Marina, the Union public boat ramp, Real Island Marina, Siggars Crossroads and county Road 34. Volunteers will be stationed at the dumpster sites to help with unloading boats or vehicles during the cleanup hours. If transporting the bagged trash proves difficult, arrangements can be made to have it picked up, Thompson said.

Volunteers are encouraged to pick up supplies at dumpster locations beginning at 8 a.m. on both days of the cleanup.

Collected trash should be deposited in the designated dumpsters between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. each day. On Saturday, volunteers will focus on areas inside Wind Creek State Park. Local youth groups that volunteer to clean up at the state park on Saturday will be provided with snacks and cold drinks. Renew Our Rivers is an Alabama Power initiative to protect the environment and clean up litter and trash from reservoir areas near the power company’s licensed projects. The program started in 2000 when Alabama Power employees volunteered to clean up a heavily littered area near their work site. Since then, more than 16 million pounds of trash and debris have been collected in more than 30 locations across the Southeast through the ROR effort. Learn more about Renew Our Rivers at apcshorelines.com/recreation/ renew-our-rivers/.

The annual cleanup effort will include a drawing for the Golden Picker Prize Bag