Friends of Scarborough Marsh

We are a coalition of private citizens and organizations who
conserve, protect, restore, and enhance the Scarborough Marsh watershed.

 

 

 

 
 

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Save the Date

Land Conservation Fundraiser
October 24, 2008

more events

 

 

Annual Clean Ups

April 26, 2008

Spring Clean Up 2008

4th Annual Spring Cleaning
of the Scarborough Marsh & Beaches

In observance of Earth Day (April 22nd), the 4th Annual Spring Cleaning of Scarborough Marsh will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

The event is a collaboration between the town and a number of organizations including the Friends of Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center, Scarborough Land Conservation Trust, Higgins Beach Association, Pine Point Association, Camp Ketcha, Scarborough Conservation Commission, and many others.

To learn more or if your organization would like to provide volunteers, please contact Linda Woodard (781-2330 x213) lwoodard@maineaudubon.org.

Bags, plastic gloves, and trash removal will be provided by the Town of Scarborough. Please bring your own work gloves. (Rain date: Sunday, April 27.) Remember to dress appropriately for changes in the weather.

POSTER (11x17) 179KB

POSTER (8.5x11) 174KB

2008 Sites and Coordinators

Pine Point Beach
Lynne & Ed Cleary 883-6887 or  lynne@clearyonline.com
(Park and meet at the Pine Point Municipal Parking Lot)

Pine Point Road and Ross Road
Bruce Thurlow 883-5445 or thurlow@maine.rr.com
(Park and meet at Clambake Restaurant)

Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center
& vicinity

Linda Woodard 781-2330x 213 or lwoodard@maineaudubon.org
(Park and meet at Audubon Center )

Route One
Bill Gillis  885-1565 or
billyg@maine.rr.com

( Park and meet at Anjon's) (No children)

Eastern Trail
Bruce Wakefield 415-1452
(Park and meet at town pumping station .5 mi. off Black Point Road )

Nonesuch River Marsh
Maureen Kirsch 883-6918 or mkirsch@maine.rr.com
(Park and meet at Black Point Collision on Black Point Road ) (No children)

Libby River Marsh
Marla Zando 318-3634 or mkzando@maine.rr.com
(Park and meet at Camp Ketcha ) (No children)

Ferry Beach (off Black Point)
Jim Farr 883-2780 jimfarr@alumni.williams.edu
(Park and meet at Ferry Beach )

Higgins Beach
Scott Townsend 252-0720 or scott@higginsbeachmaine.com
(Park on Bayview Avenue and meet at Pearl Street )

Plummer's Island
Doug & Sue Williams
info@scarboroughmarsh.org

 


Report from 2007 Spring Clean Up

Scarborough’s annual town-wide Spring Cleanup Day for the Marsh and Beaches continues to be a success. This year, those who participated were also able to pick up debris left by our Patriot’s Day storm.

The following are comments from some of the people who took part and helped organize the cleanup.


Pine Point—Lynne & Ed Cleary
“Over 50 people participated in the cleanup at Pine Point Beach including local Girl Scout, Boy Scout and Brownie troops. The weather was perfect as they scoured the beach to pick up debris. The Patriots Day storm forced most of the trash high on the beach into the dunes and up the pathways to the beach. The storm also washed up large items, like pieces of walkways and stairs to the beach. Over 20 bags of garbage were recovered, including bottles, Styrofoam, lumber and storm ravaged lobster traps. The large turnout allowed the pickup to cover the entire length of the beach from the jetty to beyond the Lighthouse Motel. The Friends of Pine Point wish to thanks all who spent the morning cleaning the beach for everyone to enjoy.”

Pine Point Road and Ross Road—Bruce Thurlow
“I had more people helping this year than any previous time. They ranged from an elderly couple to both male and female young adults. Those who volunteered stated how nice it was to give something back to a marsh they enjoyed all the time and they stayed on all morning because they stated that they were on a roll and wanted to keep going. One volunteer stayed with me while I went in my pick up to gather the filled bags along the roadways. He simply wanted to be helpful until everything was done! Also, as I and some of the volunteers were finishing, another older person came by car to the side road where we had gathered. We learned that she had cleaned that area and some of the lower Pine Point landing in the previous few days. She simply did not feel comfortable as a volunteer in any large group, but wanted to make a contribution

“Most items collected consisted of paper goods, some roof shingles, and several Styrofoam cups and "peanut" Styrofoam pieces (type used to package things) which do not disintegrate.

“We found some unusual items, including a 50 gallon drum, three “donut size" car tires, a table size rusted fan, a strip of aluminum metal and an 18" diameter metal dish and a two foot long rolled up and duck taped piece of carpet.”

“Volunteers that went along Ross Road found two large objects that couldn't be taken care of - a TV. set and couch!!! The Public Works Department was informed of these and goods (too large for volunteers) that were found in other sites, also. In the past, the Public Works personnel have not only pick up our bags of trash, but have done great follow through on large items we have identified.”

Route 1 – Dave Paul
“We had a very good turnout of approximately 20 people. We filled somewhere around 35 bags of "junk". The only odd items were a complete garbage can w/lid, a tire, and a BBQ propane tank. The most prevalent items were Styrofoam coffee cups and Styrofoam inserts from life preservers etc. Lots of cigarette butts, liquor bottles and cans as well. Some of our volunteers also saw a lot of pieces of roofing materials - shingles, rubber backing … probably because of the storm.”

Eastern Trail---Bruce Wakefield
“The clean-up of the Eastern Trail's section across the Scarborough Marsh was very successfully completed by a group of diligent citizens who were obviously concerned with its cleanliness. About 15 people showed up for the Earth Day event, and to the last person, they showed a great deal of care for the trail. One young fellow rolled an old tire from over the banking about half-a-mile, to be discarded by the Scarborough Public works Dept., also a class act. This years cleaners lived up to the precedent set by last year’s group and scoured the trail for junk. We hauled out 3 truckloads of debris. “

Higgins Beach—Scott Townsend
“Spring cleaning of the Higgins Beach area was a huge success! The weather was picture perfect & the community really came together to care for the beach. We had over 50 volunteers including beach property owners, winter renters, local residents, several children, & students from the Scarborough High School Environmental Club. A tremendous amount of litter & debris was collected along the shore. Aside from the typical bottles & cans, our crew managed to dig out about 12 broken lobster traps, piles and piles of scrap lumber, & what was left of the public beach stairs that had washed down the river after the big storm. Further down the Spurwink River, off of Route 77, a crew retrieved several tires & discarded computer equipment. We thank everyone who came out to help with the clean up effort. The beach is looking terrific. Also, a big thank you to Rodney at the Breakers for providing everyone with refreshments.”

Ferry Beach--Jim Farr
“On Saturday, we had about 50 volunteers show up at Ferry Beach,
Scarborough, ranging from under 2 years of to over 80 years of age, all eager to volunteer their time and strength to help clean up the area. What a wonderful turnout! While Ferry Beach was notably pristine, due to last weeks storm, most of our volunteers moved over to the ocean side of the neck and stacked lumber-yards worth of debris from a break water that had let loose due to the angry nor'easter of the previous week.”


Black Point Road by the Nonesuch River – Maureen Kirsch
“I had eight women help clean the site along Black Point Road by the Nonesuch River. They came from Scarborough as well as Portland. We filled nine bags with a variety of trash. We found car parts, lots of bottles, cigarette butts, a trunk type of object that may have come from a pick-up truck....It was a beautiful day and we appreciated all of the drivers who slowed down while we worked along the road!”

Libby River Marsh—Marla Zando
“We had about 8-9 folks come out for the Libby River Marsh clean-up. We had the Program Director of Camp Ketcha helping with the clean up. In addition, Camp Ketcha allowed the volunteers to park in their parking area. We did find a few interesting things: a rubber bike tube from a road bike, a plastic green outdoor chair, a lot of recyclable bottles, food containers, lots of broken glass, plastic bags, and many cigarette butts to name a few. “

The above comments describe the many hundreds of hours donated on and before April 21 to spring clean Scarborough’s marsh and beaches. With sincerity and much appreciation to those who did the hard work.

COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS - 2007 Clean Up
Daisy Troop 1310
Eastern Trail Alliance
ECOS of Scarborough High School
Friends of Scarborough Marsh
Girl Scouts of Kennebec Council
Higgins Beach Association
Key Club of Scarborough High School
Kiwanis Builders Club of Scarborough Middle School
Kiwanis Club of Scarborough
Pine Point Association
Maine Audubon
Scarborough Chamber of Commerce
Scarborough Conservation Commission
Scarborough Garden Club
Scarborough Land Conservation Trust
Scarborough Shellfish Commission
Scarborough Volunteers In Police Service
Town of Scarborough
U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service

 

 

 

 
 

   

 
   
   

 

 
 

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PO Box 7049, Scarborough, ME 04070 USA / phone: (207) 883-8028 / email: info@scarboroughmarsh.org

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