About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2020)
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | life@gainesvilletimes.com She (Times gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition - September 9-10, 2020 2 cleanups, 1 month Hall residents can help protect area waterways this September Photos courtesy Gainesville Water Resources Above: Three Chestatee High School students collect trash out of a local body of water during Gainesville Water Resources’ annual stream cleanup in 2018. Below: Myron Bennett stands behind a mound of trash he helped collect during last year’s stream and river cleanup hosted by Gainesville Water Resources. This year, people can pick up litter from Sept. 21-28, at any body of water in Hall County, including Lake Lanier. BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com By the end of September, Lake Lanier and other bodies of water around Hall County will look a lot cleaner. Both Gainesville Water Resources and Lake Lanier Association are calling Hall residents to don their mud-ready clothes and gear up for their upcoming waterway cleanups. Shore Sweep The 31st annual Shore Sweep will take place along Lake Lanier from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 26. People can regis ter for the event, which is led by the Lake Lanier Association, by visiting lakelanier. org/clean-lake/shore-sweep or signing up on-site the day of. Participants will receive free trash bags, gloves and event T-shirts at their cleanup location. Bonny Putney, chair of the Shore Sweep, recommends registering online to make sure the association has enough T-shirts for those involved. Putney said the event will encompass 12 sites on the Lanier — including Gwin nett, Forsyth, Dawson and Hall counties — stretching from the south end to the north. Some of those in Hall include Aqualand Marina, near the maintenance yard boat ramp on Lights Ferry Road in Flowery Branch, Gainesville Marina on 2145 Dawson- ville Highway in Gainesville and Don Carted State Park on 5000 N Browning Bridge Road in North Hall. The full list of locations with addresses can be viewed at lakelanier.org/ clean-lake /shore-sweep. For those unable to participate on Sept. 26, Putney said they have the option of picking up litter from an advanced site on the lake. The list of eight locations can also be found at lakelanier.org/clean-lake/shore-sweep. People who clean up before Sept. 26 are asked to leave collected trash at their advanced site’s designated space, which includes signs that read, “Show Sweet Advanced Site. Put your trash here.” Last year, Putney said the event’s group of around 1,000 volunteers gathered 80 tons of litter from along the shoreline and in the lake. She said encapsulated pieces of foam —which can detach from docks — are responsible for most of the weight, reaching 300-500 pounds each. Because this specific type of foam is encased in plastic, Putney said the water that seeps in cannot dry out, making the object heavier. “We expect a lot of trash in public areas,” Putney said. “We really encourage private boat owners to help us to go to other islands that aren’t accessible by land.” All participants are asked to wear masks and maintain a 6-foot distance from others during the event. Putney said every event site will have dumpsters and be manned by Lake Lanier Association volunteers, who are equipped to help move large pieces of trash. Having been involved with the event for over 20 years, Putney said she has seen her fair share of discarded objects in Lake Lanier like lounge chairs, stoves and cars. “One of the strangest things I’ve picked up was some dentures,” she said, laughing. “I would love to know the story of how this happened. If only they could talk.” She encourages people who enjoy Lake Lanier all summer to do their part and spend “a few hours cleaning it up. ” “There are so few things we have con trol over, and this is one thing we can do,” she said. “Let’s pick up the trash and get it cleaned out.” Virtual Stream Cleanup Instead of having people gather at the Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility, like in years prior, Gainesville Water Resources’ annual Stream Cleanup is expanding its roots all over Hall to promote social distanc ing and limit the spread of COVID-19. The event will take place from Monday, Sept. 21, to Monday, Sept. 28. Kristen Howard, the department’s water conservation specialist, said participants are invited to form their own trash pick-up groups and choose a preferred time and place to implement their cleanup. Shore Sweep What: Annual Lake Lanier cleanup ran by Lake Lanier Association When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 26 Where: At 12 locations along Lake Lanier Map of cleanup sites: lakelanier.org/ clean-lake/shore-sweep/ To register and more info: lakelanier.org/ clean-lake/shore-sweep/ Virtual Stream Cleanup What: Hall County-wide waterway cleanup led by Gainesville Water Resources When: Monday, Sept. 21, through Monday, Sept. 28 Where: Your choice of any body of water in Hall To register and more info: gainesville. org/department-of-water-resources/ stream-cleanup/ “This is for any lake, stream, pond or river around Hall County,” Howard said. “It can be in their backyard, in the local park, in a business.” People can register their group, preferred time and location by visiting gainesville.org/ department-of-water-resources/stream- cleanup. If a team doesn’t have a neighbor hood stream or other site in mind, Howard said Gainesville Water Resources can help them find one. Registration ends Monday, Sept. 14. After signing up, Howard said a confir mation email will shortly arrive, which will include information about picking up a cleanup kit at the department’s office, located at 2641 Old Flowery Branch Road in Gainesville. The kit includes liability waiv ers to be signed by each participant, trash bags, gloves, face buffs provided by Rivers Alive and instructions for what to do when their team is done. Howard said the City of Gainesville and Keep Hall Beautiful will haul off the trash collected by volunteers. She encourages all participants to wear masks and practice social distancing. During 2019’s event, Howard said around 60 volunteers collected 1,080 pounds of trash around the county’s bodies of water. This year’s cleanup is in partnership with both Rivers Alive — a state-run waterway cleanup volunteer program — and Keep Hall Beautiful. “Ultimately, it’s about raising aware ness,” Howard said. “All of these creeks and streams we’re cleaning up are leading out to our drinking water source. That’s why we partner with Rivers Alive because it directly impacts all of us.” Childhood nights created unique memories R0NDA RICH southswomen@bellsouth.net When I was a child, my bed room was 12 feet down a short hallway from my parents’ room. In those days when windows were opened wide for the smell of honeysuckle and the choir of crickets to drift in, I would lie in bed and listen to the sounds of the night. If my door was open a bit — and usually it was — I could hear Mama and Daddy as they lay in bed, talking about the day or discussing decisions to be made. I was up in years before I real ized what a privilege that was, to have parents who enjoyed conversation in the still of the night. Daddy would stretch out his arm, and Mama would lay her head on his shoulder as they talked. This I know because sometimes, if I couldn’t sleep, I would slip out of bed and take big tip-toe steps in my gown tail to their door and ask, “Can I talk,too?” Daddy would chuckle. “Yes, little’un, climb up here.” I would tumble over the solid ness of his 6 feet and squeeze down between him and Mama. There, both she and I would lay on his arm and talk in the dark ness of the night. About what, I can no longer remember, except that sometimes, I would tell a story that I had made up, and Daddy would laugh at my imagination. “How on earth do you come up with these things?” Mama would ask. I’d shrug my 6-year-old shoul ders and say, “I don’t know. It just comes to me.” One night I remember that I said to Daddy, “Now, you lay your head on my arm.” I was always taught to give and not just take. He obliged but in mere minutes, my tiny arm was ach ing so I said, “Time to switch back.” When I begin to drift off, Mama would nudge me, “Ronda, get up and go back to your own bed.” I loved to eavesdrop (but we always called ‘easedrop’ which makes more sense anyway) on my parents. Many are the times that I napped in the back seat of the car or on the living room floor, drifting off to the stories they told. “You have big ears for a little girl,” Mama would say. Yes, I did, and that’s what carried me into a career of storytelling. It all started with those blissful nights when their soft conversation carried down the hall and into my room. Daddy smoked, a habit picked up from World War II when the soldiers were given free cartons of cigarettes. It was the only thing that his strong will could not overcome. “Somers” around 3 in the morning, he’d wake up to have a cigarette. He’d sit on the side of the bed and, as he smoked, he talked to the good Lord. He always spent that time in prayer. Many are the times I slipped from my bedroom to the bathroom, located between our rooms, and I’d see the orange glowing embers of that cigarette. Daddy’s elbows would be rest ing on his knees and his head bowed. If he happened to hear me, he’d say quietly, “Hello, little’un” then return to prayer. In the movie, “To Kill a Mock ingbird,” there is a scene where Scout is lying in bed, listening as Atticus has a conversation on the front porch. Horton Foote adapted the screenplay from Harper Lee’s book. An inter viewer once asked him if that scene had come from his own childhood experiences. He explained that his parents sat on the porch, near his bed room, and talked every night. “I listened to them talk about everything that happened in the town.” Horton Foote’s storytelling would win him two Oscars and much acclaim. And for both of us, from those nights of listening in, would come the kind of memories that you can’t make up no mat ter what kind of storyteller you are. Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of several books, including “Let Me Tell You Something.” Sign up for her newsletter at www.rondarich.com. Her column publishes weekly.
