The weekend after July 4th, Lois and John planned a river clean-up along the Lower Platte River. Since it was the July 7th, we knew it would be busy and knew there would be lots of trash from the holiday. So we set off that morning with high hopes for trash collecting. The Peaceful Valley + 1 group brought 6 people on the trip, nearly half of the 13 coming. The Peaceful Valley group included Lois, John, my mom Kristen, my brother Matt, my grandma Pat and myself. Other people coming on the trip were Marv and Marlene, Marvin, Tracie, Peg, Sharon, and Mary. We got to the put-in around 9:30 and got the boats ready. Unfortunately the ranger didn’t show up early enough to do the shuttle so we had to run our own. During the first half of the trip, Grandma and I were in the kayaks while Matty and John, and Kristen and Lois took the canoes. We filled about 4 large bags with everything from shoes to dog balls to a flower pot holder, with of course the whole slew of red, white and blue beer cans. We stopped for lunch at the fish weir. After lunch, Kristen and I switched spots, so I was in the canoe with Lois. The river became insanely crowded with tubers after the weir. They were everywhere! On the second half of the trip, we found very little trash in comparison to the beginning. When we got to the take-out, the weather had gotten much cooler and cloudier. We were all very tired but decided to stop for ice cream on the way home. I had so much fun and can’t wait to go canoeing again soon! Thanks Lois and John!
As reported by Gracie Failor, age 14
Early Sunday morning I woke up ready for an awesome canoe/kayak trip. Lois and John picked us up at 8:30. We got there and I met some new people. Lois, John, Marv, Marlene, Marvin, Peg, Mary, Sharon, Tracie, my grandma Pat, my mom Kristen, my sister Gracie, and I set out and found a ton of trash before stopping at the fish weir for lunch. After lunch there were a lot of people so there was a ton of trash. Then we landed and cleaned up. We went home with a quick ice cream stop in Honor. It was a ton of fun and I’m glad I get to do these paddles and cleanups! I’m thankful that Lois and John are my neighbors so I can meet new people and have fun.
Written by Matt Failor, age 12
This is what the river looked like after lunch.