September 18, 2009

Earth Scouts seek volunteers for Saturday clean-up

Targeted lot is on busy street

By Kathy Ursprung
The Chronicle

     A group of environment-friendly Earth Scouts wants volunteers Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help clean up a highly visible vacant lot in The Dalles commercial area.
     Earth Scouts can be up to age 18 and get involved in community service, cleaning up the environment, getting involved in government and working toward making laws for “anything from health care to welfare for citizens,” said troop leader Lynn O’Brien, whose 9-year-old daughter Kati is involved in the group.
The lot is on Cherry Heights Road, directly across from Urness Motors.
     “We’re trying to draw awareness to the group,” O’Brien said, “and awareness that it doesn’t take much for one person to clean up a community.”
     The troop picked the lot because it was one that was highly visible on the O’Briens’ regular drives to the grocery store.
     “My daughter would go, ‘Why is it like this? Why doesn’t anybody clean it up?’ She said, ‘Mom, I want to do it.’”
     O’Brien researched the name of the owner of the acre lot, got in touch and got permission from him for the clean-up. He plans to go out early that morning and make sure no hazardous items like car batteries or drug paraphernalia are on the site. If they do find drug paraphernalia, O’Brien plans to photograph what’s found before removing it. O’Brien hopes the event will bring a large turn-out and they can finish early.
     Columbia Auto Repair and Sales, her employer, is donating a big dump trailer to haul the refuse away. The Earth Scouts will sort and properly dispose of what is collected.
     The collected materials will be tallied up and reported to the Clean World Movement, just the items Kati collects on regular walks with her grandmother are tallied.
     Volunteers are asked to show up at the clean-up location Saturday at around 10 a.m., bring a hat and gloves and wear sunscreen. They may also bring a recyclable or reusable bag for collecting refuse. The Earth Scouts will provide refillable water bottles, or volunteers can bring their own.