Volunteers needed for West Fork Cleanup May 14 | Announcement

The 6th annual West Fork Cleanup will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 14, at Riverside Park, located off state Hwy. 170 in quaint downtown West Fork. Volunteers will check in from 8-9:30 a.m. at the park, then fan out to stations along the river and clean up targeted areas. The cleanup will end at 11 a.m., when a burrito buffet will be served. In addition to the cleanup, a tour of the Brentwood Stream Restoration will be offered at 9 a.m. and a cardboard boat race will be staged at noon.

Volunteers are needed and may pre-register by calling 527-0700 or show up that day and register on-site.  Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Cleanup participants will be supplied with trash bags, maps to cleanup locations, gloves, and reusable water bottles filled with chilled tap water. All volunteers will be required to sign up and complete liability forms. Sites on the cleanup list include Baptist Ford, Tilly Willy Bridge, Dye Creek Road, Woolsey Bridge, Brentwood Mountain Road, and the Winslow Ballpark.

“The West Fork of the White River flows into Beaver Lake,” said Nicole Hardiman, who works for Audubon Arkansas, one of the event sponsors. “Beaver Lake is our drinking water, so we gather annually to clean up the West Fork and build awareness about our precious water resources.”

Mayor Frances Hime has been volunteering for the cleanup for several years, and she’s proud to be there once again, this time as mayor.

“When we clean up the West Fork, we are protecting our source of safe drinking water and caretaking wildlife habitat,” Hime said. “We love hosting this event and gathering local community members to help with this task. We have kids from the schools, scout troops, 4H members, canoe club folks, churches, business members, and whole families who come every year to help out. It’s a lot of fun and so important.”

As in years past, the event is being coordinated by the West Fork Watershed Alliance (formerly the West Fork Environmental Protection Association). Sponsors and partners also include the Arkansas Earth Day Foundation, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Arkansas Stream Team, Arvest Bank, Bank of Fayetteville, Beaver Water District, City of West Fork, Keep Arkansas Beautiful, Pack Rat Outdoor Center, Tyson Foods, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Washington County Environmental Affairs, and the Watershed Conservation Resource Center.

For more information, call 527-0700. To download a flyer, visit www.bwdh2o.org.

[This announcement courtesy of the Beaver Water District.]

Christopher Spencer

Christopher Spencer, 36, is the publisher and owner of Ozarks Unbound and the food news site, The Fayetteville Food File. He is the chair of the Fayetteville Creative Economy Action Group and the social media chair of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He's also the founder of WordCamp Fayetteville. You can always contact him at cspencer@ozarksunbound.com

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