From today's US&J....
GASPORT: Cub Scouts find cleaner canal
In 1826, student Asa Fitch found carbureted hydrogen — coal gas — coming out the ground during a Rensselar School Flotilla excursion of the Erie Canal and put a candle to it. The gas burned in a red flame and Gasport got its name.
On Saturday Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Barker’s troop 26 worked their way up and down the canal from the Gasport Lift Bridge and found bottles, bags, old tarps, Styrofoam cups and even a piece of siding. Boys drifting east along the banks found much more litter than the young men who went west. All in all, the trail and the park was cleaner than last year.
“That’s very good,” said Courtney Wakefield, who came with her two boys, Jake and Max Meister. “I think a lot of people out here are helping us out.” The Meisters worked the west trail. “We didn’t find any siding or anything good like they did,” Wakefield said. Mykel Ruffini, 9, who also worked the Clean Sweep last year, said “it was very clean this year.”
Den leader Chris Richbart came with sons Josh, 8, and Zachery, 7. “It looks fairly clean, but when you start looking around, things get stuck after being blown around in the wind and there’s much more than you realize.”
Fred Fay of Barker led the Pack 26 Canal Clean Sweep. About 16 cubs participated on the trail side, while three boy scouts from Barker cleaned up in the park on the other side of the canal. It was slim pickings for veterans Joey Hinton, 13, Griffen Raymond, 13, and Tim Flint, 11.“This park’s not too bad. I imagine the canal is pretty bad,” Troop 26 leader Brian Carmer said. “It’s easier on our side,” Raymond said.
The mission took one hour and covered about one mile. The boys went 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back.“It’s good for the boys,” Fay said. “It teaches them community service because that’s what cub scouting is all about. It also stresses good stewardship of the earth.”
GASPORT: Cub Scouts find cleaner canal
In 1826, student Asa Fitch found carbureted hydrogen — coal gas — coming out the ground during a Rensselar School Flotilla excursion of the Erie Canal and put a candle to it. The gas burned in a red flame and Gasport got its name.
On Saturday Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Barker’s troop 26 worked their way up and down the canal from the Gasport Lift Bridge and found bottles, bags, old tarps, Styrofoam cups and even a piece of siding. Boys drifting east along the banks found much more litter than the young men who went west. All in all, the trail and the park was cleaner than last year.
“That’s very good,” said Courtney Wakefield, who came with her two boys, Jake and Max Meister. “I think a lot of people out here are helping us out.” The Meisters worked the west trail. “We didn’t find any siding or anything good like they did,” Wakefield said. Mykel Ruffini, 9, who also worked the Clean Sweep last year, said “it was very clean this year.”
Den leader Chris Richbart came with sons Josh, 8, and Zachery, 7. “It looks fairly clean, but when you start looking around, things get stuck after being blown around in the wind and there’s much more than you realize.”
Fred Fay of Barker led the Pack 26 Canal Clean Sweep. About 16 cubs participated on the trail side, while three boy scouts from Barker cleaned up in the park on the other side of the canal. It was slim pickings for veterans Joey Hinton, 13, Griffen Raymond, 13, and Tim Flint, 11.“This park’s not too bad. I imagine the canal is pretty bad,” Troop 26 leader Brian Carmer said. “It’s easier on our side,” Raymond said.
The mission took one hour and covered about one mile. The boys went 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back.“It’s good for the boys,” Fay said. “It teaches them community service because that’s what cub scouting is all about. It also stresses good stewardship of the earth.”
