Rivers Alive 2007 a Huge Success!

We had over 125 folks participate in the 2007 Rivers Alive Event. It was a wonderful example of community members coming together for the betterment of the environment, our waterways and our community. We had multiple girl scout troops from the Milton District represented (including, but not limited to Troop 2327, 3431, 3380, 3326, 3123, 3380, 3352) as well as Troop 3075 from Sandy Springs, Boy Scouts from Pack 3000, Scouts from Pack 1459, Beta Club members from Hopewell and Northwestern Middle School, youth from local churches, students from Crabapple Crossing, Summit Hill and Cogburn Woods Elementary, Milton High School students, Keep North Fulton Beautiful, citizens from Marietta, Atlanta and Peachtree Corners, Fire fighters from Station #43 -- including Popcorn the Clown -- and more.

I couldn't be more proud of the caring and involved citizens and youth that joined together again during the annual Rivers Alive event to really make a difference for the future of our community. Together anything is possible. And, together, we really can make a difference for the future of our environment and our community. Every person makes such a difference.

Volunteers worked very hard to gather and pull trash and debris from river ways, ravines and parkland. Thanks to the efforts to the many the result was a huge pile of debris, trash, tires, metal and more that was collected from various sites, and waterways including the Birmingham Parkland. It is estimated that over 4,000 lbs. of debris was collected from the various locations of Little River (both in Cherokee and Milton), including the portion of Little River which runs along the Birmingham Parkland and Chicken Creek. Volunteers worked hard to pull 14+ tires from the various locations along with three water heaters, fence posts, five washing machines, guard rails, refrigerator parts, old shoes, wire and so much more; all things that do not need to be in our parkland nor in our waterways.

Also worth mentioning is that rather than simply "trashing the trash", we had a local citizen who was able to take the scrap metal to a recycler so that many of the items will not just fill our landfills, but instead will be recycled and reused.

In addition to the clean-up activities that resulted in the removal of tons of trash from our community, we also had the chance to impart some great environmental education on the youth of Milton including discussions and hands-on demonstrations tied to storm water run-off and the negative impact to our waterways, the current drought and ways to conserve water, a puppet show for our younger audience re: not littering and the importance of clean water as well as Fire Safety discussions and demonstrations from firemen of Station #43 and Popcorn the Clown.

And remember, everyday presents the opportunity to truly make a difference!

Mayor issues proclamation on behalf of Julie's efforts over the last decade regarding clean waterways, environmental education and specifically Rivers Alive! Click here to view the proclamation!

Here are a few photos from this year's event...