EDITOR'S NOTES
The Provo River and I need your help
I built a boat over the winter. But I’m not very happy about it, and neither is my daughter.
Let me explain.
Sometime
in February, I took up a large part of the garage and began
constructing a kayak. It is wood-framed and covered in canvas. It floats
beautifully. A couple weeks ago I spent several days with the Venture
Crew my son belongs to near Moab paddling up and down the Colorado
River.
At the same time I was building my kayak, my son knocked
one out in about half the time, thanks to the help from his Venture Crew
leaders.
I now have two kayaks killing grass in my back yard.
This
new found mode of transportation, however, also has taken me to several
locations around Provo, including the lower Provo River – the section
just above the state park.
If you’ve not been to that part of the
river or the Provo River trail, you really owe it to yourself to spend
some time there. It is a beautiful section of trail shaded by tall
willows and cottonwood trees. There are beaver and Canada geese and
ducks and a rope swing or two. Plus there are benches along most of the
trail. It’s perfectly flat and perfect for bike riding, long boarding or
just strolling.
And, if you have a couple of kayaks like I now
do, it’s perfect for paddling. There is virtually no current and lots of
overhanging trees complete with moss hanging into the water, giving it
the feel of a southern states bayou.
Perfect, right? Wrong.
This
section of the Provo River is heavily strewn with trash, garbage and
junk everywhere. It’s mostly in the form of plastic water bottles, flip
flops, food containers old tires and anything else that someone on shore
decided to toss into the water. Out of sight out of mind, I guess.
My
daughter – who borrowed her brother’s kayak -- and I spent a couple of
hours on the river on Saturday and we simply could not believe how
trashed it was. We took a couple of small bags of garbage out, but it
barely made a dent.
My daughter is a woman of action. Consequently
she began plotting ways to clean up the river. Her first thought was,
“I’m going to call Mayor Curtis about this. He should know that his
river is trashed.”
Of course it’s not his river, but it wouldn’t
surprise me if Mayor Curtis gets a call anyway from a very upset young
woman seeking action.
At the bottom of this page, you’ll see a
letter from Dave Olpin a longtime member of the local Kiwanis Club. Like
my daughter, Olpin is issuing a call to action. The local service
organizations need more members, but there seems to be a lack of
interest in community service, he surmises.
A few weeks ago, we
reported in the Daily Herald that the local Lions Club was reforming
after several years of inactivity. That’s great news.
My hope is
that local residents just need to be reminded that there are community
service options out there. Organizations such as the Lions, Rotary,
Kiwanis and others play in invaluable role in our community, not only
through their charitable giving, but as a social organization that
brings neighbors, business leaders and others together.
Of course,
the LDS church and its myriad service programs also provide a valuable
function. Children learn early on that service is a part of church and
family life. What ward or stake doesn’t use “service projects” as part
of the regular activities?
Last week, we reported on the Utah
Valley Ministerial Association’s effort to gather members of all faiths
in the Provo/Orem area together to tackle the huge issue of
homelessness. Again, this is a perfect example of local people taking
action to provide service to their community.
Thinking back to the
Provo River, I know there have been several cleanup efforts along
various sections of the river, especially around the Vivian Park area
that is heavily used. This is a great service that is hugely appreciated
for anyone like me and my daughter who find ourselves near the river
fairly often.
My guess is that now that I have a couple of new
boats to navigate more of the waterways, we’ll be out there even more
often, but we’ll be bringing trash bags along.
