Suzanne Brandt, coordinator of Keep Decatur County Beautiful, challenged Rotary members at Tuesday’s meeting to come out and volunteer for the Rivers Alive cleanup Saturday morning, Oct. 4. In the past Rotary has provided T-shirts for the event, and several members have participated.

She cited information documenting the importance of clean water for all — business and industry, recreation and general household uses.

Last year in Decatur County over 200 volunteers came out on a Saturday morning to gather 564 thousand pounds of trash, nearly all of it picked up piece by piece.

Over 27,000 volunteers state-wide participated in river cleanups across the state, yet Keep Decatur County Beautiful received an award for the most outstanding cleanup of all groups in Georgia.

Brandt told of a couple of the more interesting items that have been found at cleanups. One was a wooden jewelry box full of jewelry with the tags still on them. She said those were turned over to the sheriff. They also found a purse that had apparently become home to a snake, which came crawling out of it.

Volunteers are asked to gather on Saturday, Oct 4 at 8 a.m. at the Boat Basin to be assigned to their areas of cleanup.

As Brandt showed photos of previous year clean-ups, it became obvious that volunteers of all ages are welcome. There were many young elementary and middle school students as well as college students, seniors groups and teams from businesses.

Brandt quoted the motto as being “From the rivers to the sea,” explaining that trash left anywhere on the ground eventually ends up in the watershed. She said she would welcome interested parties to join in a brain-storming session to see what can be done to clean up other areas of the community, including the entrances, which make the first impression to visitors.

To learn more about Rivers Alive, or to volunteer services, contact Brandt at 229-248-3030 or email Suzanne@decaturcountyga.gov.