Pymatuning Appreciation Day- Project and Shoreline Clean-up

Source: The Record-Argus​

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WEST SHENANGO TOWNSHIP — If you wanted to celebrate Earth Day by doing some community service, you could have headed to Pymatuning State Park on Saturday for Pymatuning Appreciation Day and the annual Great Pymatuning Shore Cleanup.

The cleanup is part of PennDOT’s Pick up Pa. program and supplied trash bags and gloves to the 77 volunteers who spent half their Saturday morning making the park beautiful.

The Pymatuning Lake Association brought tools, such as shovels, for the volunteers to use. The association also provided lunch for the volunteers.

Assistant Park Manager Sean Benson was happy with the number of volunteers who showed up, though he’s had up to 200 show up to help.

“It’s a good turnout, but not a record,” Benson said. “I always try to target the event before things are green and you can see the trash, but late enough you’re not running into snow.”

While it’s called the shore cleanup, there was a whole lot more than just picking up trash along the lake.

“We’re adding a maintenance component to it,” Benson said.

Teams went around re-mulching several of the playgrounds and Environmental Education Specialist Jared McGary took teams on Tamarack and log cabin trails to remove invasive species from among the native floras.

Chuck Kugler, of Knox, was taking part in his first Pymatuning cleanup. He came at the urging of his girlfriend’s family.

“Her family has been coming here awhile,” Kugler said.

Marty Rego and Lee Haynes are members of the Pymatuning Outboard Motor Club. Park Manager Jessica Fischer had met with the club recently and told them about the event.

“We asked as many of our members to be involved if they could,” Rego said.

While Rego is from Akron, Haynes lives near the park and walks it every day.

“We pick up trash as we see it,” Haynes said. “Earth Day is an awesome thing but it’s a byproduct to today.”

While Earth Day was on Tuesday, Benson said the timing of the event was coincidental. In the past, the cleanup had been scheduled on the first day of spring gobbler season. It missed the season opener this year, but it fell on the same day as the youth hunt, according to Benson.