TREASURE IN THE DITCHES

It’s Autumn here in South Dakota. There is that morning coolness in the air that triggers an inner sense that it is time to start thinking about raking leaves, hunting trips, holiday gatherings, leaving for warmer Winter quarters in the South, and of course…..Highway Cleanup.

On September 30th, our group of volunteers gathered in a strip mall on south Minnesota Avenue between 9:00 and 9:30. Clad in State approved florescent safety vests we piled into three vehicles and headed South to our adopted stretch of road. The weather was good and the ditches were dry. The State is probably saving a fortune by not mowing, but it does make finding trash more of a challenge. Oh well, out of sight…out of mind, it will still be there for us next Spring.

In spite of the tall grass, our group was able to amass a respectable amount of debris in our orange State approved plastic bags. When added to a room’s worth of carpet padding and a pretty nice mountain bike, we were able to fill up my pickup box.

During the nice party the Club pays for after the event, a couple suggestions were made as to what to do with the bike. A call to the Lincoln county sheriff’s office found no reports regarding this bike. Club member Jane Nestor suggested it be donated to Center of Hope and I did just that on Tuesday. Center of Hope was very pleased with the donation and assured me it would be very valuable to a client in need of transportation.

Thank you to all Club members that have helped with this community service project over the years. These members helped out this Fall:

Brad Brown, Dalliss Englund, Brad Haase, Kaye Huber, Warren Huber, Kathy Miller, Dusty Miller, Jane Nestor, Doug Nestor, Cheryl Nielsen, and Randy Nielsen.

Respectfully submitted,

Dusty Miller