PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September
7, 2007
LAKE ERIE VISITORS AND RESIDENTS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE
IN UPCOMING COASTWEEKS EVENTS
Many beach cleanups slated for Saturday,
September 15
TOLEDO, OH – The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is
encouraging both visitors and local residents to help with projects aimed at
cleaning up recreational areas along Lake Erie as part of the 2007 Coastweeks observance, September
5-22.
The Commission is Ohio’s
coordinator for the Coastweeks program, which is part of an annual nationwide
effort to educate the public about protecting coastlines around the
country. In Ohio, the focus is cleanup
events along Lake Erie’s shoreline and
within its watershed.
A total of eleven cleanup events are scheduled along Lake
Erie in the next two weeks beginning this weekend on Saturday, September 8 at Euclid Beach
State Park and Sunday, September 9 at Edgewater Park. Additional beach cleanups are
slated for International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 15,
followed by the Annual Put-In-Bay Underwater Cleanup on Monday, September 17 in
Put-In-Bay’s harbor.
Upcoming 2007 Coastweeks Events Include:
Saturday, September 8
10 a.m. Euclid Beach Clean-up! Help make the park more enjoyable by
pitching in and collecting the litter that has gathered on our beach. Meet at
the pavilion in Euclid
Beach State
Park, 8701
Lakeshore Blvd., Cleveland.
Questions: clsp.naturalist@dnr.state.oh.us
Sponsor: Cleveland
Lakefront State
Park
Sunday, September 9
10 a.m. - 5th
Annual Great
Lake Erie Round-up! AquaMasters of Lakewood takes
pride in Lake Erie and wants to help make a
difference! Certified scuba divers will clean up a short distance offshore,
while land volunteers will clean up
along the shoreline. This event will take place at Edgewater
Park, Cleveland. For additional information visit: http://www.aquamastersoflakewood.freeservers.com
or call the "clean-up" guy at 216-651-0747. Sponsor:
AquaMasters of Lakewood
Saturday, September 15
– International Coastal Cleanup Day
8 a.m. - Annual
Clean Your Streams Day! Are you tried of seeing
trash along our streams? Volunteer to remove litter and see what you can find.
All volunteers must attend an 8:30 a.m. orientation meeting to receive cleanup
information. Meet at Highland Park Shelter
House, South Toledo; Olander
Park Shelter
House, Sylvania;
Ottawa Park Shelter House near Toledo Hospital; Washington Twp. Fire Station in
Point Place; or Oregon Municipal Bldg, Oregon. Appreciation picnic and t-shirts
for all volunteers when you register by calling: 419-936-3751. Sponsor:
Partners for Clean Streams & Maumee RAP - Additional information at http://www.maumeerap.org/CYS.html
8:30 a.m. - Roll up your sleeves with the litter lady at Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve
and pick up litter washed in from Lake Erie.
Meet at Mentor Lagoons Marina office, 8365
Harbor Dr., Mentor, OH. Lunch included when you register by
calling: 440-974-5780. Sponsor: Mentor
Lagoons Nature Preserve
9 a.m. - Old Woman Creek
Barrier Beach Clean-up!
Join Old Woman Creek Reserve staff and others from around the world to clean up
our coasts on International Coastal Cleanup
Day! Meet at the Old Woman Creek Dormitory, 2005 Cleveland Rd. E,
just west of Old Woman Creek on the north side, Huron, OH. Wear old clothes and
old shoes, dress for the weather. Questions: heather.elmer@dnr.state.oh.us
or call: 419-433-4601 Sponsors: Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research
Reserve and ODNR Division of Wildlife
9 a.m. - Euclid
Creek will
need volunteers at various locations along their watershed to "get the
trash out" of the streams and creeks. Location details will be posted at http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org.
Sponsors: Cuyahoga SWCD, Euclid Creek Watershed Council and Friends of Euclid
Creek.
10 a.m. - Join the staff at the Maumee Bay Nature Center
and volunteer in the park-wide cleanup. Meet at Maumee Bay Nature Center,
1400 Park Rd #1, Oregon, OH. Wear old clothes and old shoes,
dress for the weather. Lunch included when you register by calling:
419-836-9117. Sponsor: Maumee
Bay State
Park
10 a.m. - Sheldon
Marsh Barrier
Beach
Clean Up! Get involved in this clean-up and
you will see your results that day. We will walk the Barrier Beach
and pick-up litter and record our findings. Wear old clothes and old shoes,
dress for the weather. Meet at the Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve parking
lot, 2715 Cleveland Rd.,
Huron, OH.
Questions: steve.harvey@dnr.state.oh.us
or call 419-433-4919 Sponsor: ODNR-Div. of Natural Areas & Preserves
10 a.m. - Join the Friends of Magee Marsh and help clean up the Magee Marsh
beach and make it safe for people and wildlife! Meet at the Wildlife Beach,
13229 W. SR 2, Oak Harbor, OH. Wear old clothes and old shoes, dress
for the weather. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers. Please register by
email: mary.warren@dnr.state.oh.us
or call: 419-898-0960 Sponsors: ODNR and Friends of Magee Marsh
10 a.m. - Be part of East Harbor's Trash Attack team. You can see
for yourself what washes up at our state park shoreline! The trash will be
documented and disposed of properly. Meet at the camp store parking lot, 1169 N. Buck Rd., Lakeside,
OH. Please register by email: dave.ferguson@dnr.state.oh.us or call:
419-734-4425 Sponsor: ODNR.
Monday, September 17
8:30 a.m. Dive! Put-in-Bay Harbor Clean-up! Be part of the solution by helping us
clean-up Put-in-Bay's downtown harbor. Wear old clothes and old shoes, dress
for the weather. Meet at the Miller Boat Line for
transportation to island. Questions: 419-732-1728 or sheschel@hotmail.com
Sponsors: Miller Boatline, DeRivera Park Trust, Divers Inc., Stone Lab, New Wave Dive Center,
Patrixs Scuba, Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Council of Skin & Scuba
Divers, Village
of Put-in-Bay.
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is a state
agency created to preserve Lake Erie’s
natural resources, enhance its water quality and promote economic development
in the region. The director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
serves as the commission’s chairman. Additional members include the
directors of the departments of transportation, development, health,
agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The commission
oversees the Lake Erie Protection Fund, which is the source of grant funding
supported by Ohioans each time they purchase a Lake Erie license plate displaying
the Marblehead Lighthouse or renewing their Toledo Harbor Lighthouse plate,
both designed by Ohio
artist Ben Richmond.
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For Further Information Contact:
Edwin Hammett, Ohio
Lake Erie Commission
(419) 245-2514