The 2nd photo is of two Cleanup volunteers found an old car tire in the mangroves at Clam Bayou. Photo courtesy of Wolfgang Deininger.On Saturday, March 20 70 residents and volunteers came together for a “Great Clam Bayou Cleanup,” co-hosted by Gulfport Grassroots and Keep Pinellas Beautiful. According to Gulfport Grassroots founder Wolfgang Deininger, the Boca Ciega Yacht Club offered a $50 gift card for the most trash collected, and Gulfport’s GulfPerk Coffee Bar and Salty’s Sandwich Bar also offered freebies and discounts for the volunteers. The City of Gulfport supplied tents, tables, chairs and large dumpsters to collect the trash.
Three hours in, Deininger said, “some 470 pounds of trash were removed from Gulfport’s environmentally important estuary on the east side of the Boca Ciega Bay.”
BCYC members Dianne Benedetti and Richard Walters drop off collected trash with Jonathan Cornwell, BCYC Public Relations Chair and Secretary. Photo courtesy of Wolfgang Deininger.Gulfport councilmembers April Thanos, Paul Ray and Christine Brown also pitched in.
According to Deininger, another “Great Clam Bayou Clean-Up” is tentatively in the works for November.
“In the meantime, interested residents can join in Gulfport Grassroots’ monthly ‘Beyond the Beach Clean-up’ meeting every second Saturday at 9 a.m. at Shelter #4 on the Gulfport Beach,” he said.
Volunteers Daniel and Kaycee Lansdown, right, and their friends try on their new Keep Pinellas Beautiful t-shirts. Photo courtesy of Wolfgang Deininger.Want to talk about this post? Click here and discuss on Facebook!
