GREAT FALLS — Oddfellows Park in Great Falls is a natural crossroads.
“We're at the confluence of two rivers here in Great Falls,” said Tracy Wendt, the director of the Sun River Watershed Group. “Why don't we have some kind of cleanup?”
The location made for a perfect spot for Wendt to set up a sign-in table for the Sun River Watershed Group’s annual Bashin’ Trash event. The event is a grassroots trash cleanup day along--and in--the Sun and Missouri Rivers.
“People just pick their favorite spot on the river, and they go clean it up,” Wendt said.
Small groups of volunteers were up and down the 140 miles of river, seeking out any and all trash they could grab and remove from the water or riverbank. In the past, oddities such as tires and recliner chairs have been found, and so Wendt sets up a Bingo board to track progress.
On the board are things you will often find, such as used beer cans, straws, and even spent ammunition shells. Other finds are more ironic.
“One of our volunteers found some Styrofoam containers on them with a very important message,” Wendt said. “Please don't litter.”
The river is full of larger trash items like rusted cars, but the Sun River Watershed Group knows that even doing the small stuff goes a long way.
“The trash is tangible and we can see it and we can make a difference,” Wendt said.
If you missed the trash clean up event, you can still help out. You may not have a bingo board, but you can help clean the river any time, and the Sun River Watershed Group hopes that you will.
Find out more about the Sun River Watershed Group at their website and Facebook page.
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