Earth Day, the Recap

This is what it looked like as Barbara Abbott and Larry Hauser sifted charcoal and debris from the beach sand. It wasn't the best setup, but they still made remarkable progress. The Fellows family took most of the sophomore class and covered North Beach and the harbor. The Busheys walked down to Whaleback and then took off to cover Good Harbor Bay. I scoured the bushes waiting for the kids to come back and found lots of beer bottles, some still full.

Ours was part of an effort that spanned the great lakes. In all:

• 81 teams participated at 102 locations on all five Great Lakes
• 2,400 volunteers shared in the experience and the cleanup
• 8,059 pounds of debris were removed and catalogued
• 139 beach health assessment forms were completed and are now available to help pinpoint potential pollution sources

 I've been policing Van's beach most of the summer, and others have as well. I think the situation is better than it was in years past, but I hesitate to take much credit.