SAN MARCOS CLEANUP – A GREAT TURNOUT
by Anne Olden

The Club had a great showing at this annual event. Twenty – yes, 20 – HCC members helped out; two members brought a friend. Chuck and Sharon Babb from Brenham, along with three adults and three Brenham HS students, joined with us to bring the total to 30. Two of our members cleaned banks, so there were 28 on the water between Pecan Park and Shady Grove Campground, 14 in each section. The crew cleaning from Pecan Park to Sculls Crossing found that reports of beaches deep in beer cans was not an exaggeration.

They weren’t able to get all the cans between Don’s and Cottonseed because their boats were already filled. If you paddle that stretch, please take a bag along and pick up a little. The crew working from Sculls to Shady Grove worked steadily for nearly four hours, leaving a large collection at the Martindale Dam. Chuck went back with his truck to pick this up. The weather started out windy and cool, but the sun came out and the wind died down to give us a great day for working.

As usual, Tom Goynes, Pres. of the Texas Rivers Protection Assoc. and newly elected Pres. of the San Marcos River Foundation, got us started in the morning. He was the last to come in for supper after collecting trash left at various pickup points. Dianne Wassenich, Exec. Dir. of SMRF, organized the tasty fried catfish supper donated by SMRF. Justin Ceterski built an inviting campfire at Pecan Park as the skies cleared and the temperature dropped. On Sunday morning three members practiced at the new Rio Vista rapids.

Many thanks to all who participated – you did an outstanding job!