Get your waders ready for the 16th annual Krazy for the Kazoo, the Battle Creek area’s River Conservation Day event, set for this Saturday, Oct. 1.
Volunteers are needed to clean up trash, debris, tires and invasive species that can affect water quality near our waterways and other areas. Our goal is to participate in a watershed-wide cleanup effort and focus attention on the water quality of the Kalamazoo River.
Volunteers will meet for registration at 8:30 a.m. at Bailey Park’s C.O. Brown Stadium and, after a brief opening ceremony, will clean up their assigned work sites, and will return to the stadium for lunch. All volunteers will receive a commemorative T-shirt, designed by a local student.
Other communities throughout the Kalamazoo River Watershed also will conduct cleanups in their areas.
“River cleanup and Conservation Day have been a huge success since we first began in 2001, with thousands of volunteers collecting tons of trash, hundreds of tires, and invasive plant species,” said Tiffany Welsh, event coordinator and the city’s environmental programs coordinator. “Our volunteers typify our slogan of ‘Clean Water. You make the difference.’ We cannot be as successful without the help of so many caring individuals.”
Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Welsh at 269-966-0712. Pre-registration is requested. To pre-register a school group, contact Mary Lindow at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, 269-213-3803 or mlindow@bcamsc.org.
The event is coordinated and sponsored by the Battle Creek Area Clean Water Partners, comprised of the City of Battle Creek, City of Springfield, Calhoun County Road Department, Calhoun County Water Resources Commission, townships of Bedford, Emmett, Leroy, Newton and Pennfield, Battle Creek area schools, Kellogg Community College, and the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center.
Other sponsors include the Battle Creek Community Foundation, Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, Calhoun County Solid Waste Management Fund, Meijer, Enbridge, DENSO, Waste Management, Republic Services, Kal-Blue and the Great Lakes Commission.