A group of volunteers picked up litter along State Route 97 near the northern border of the Town of Deerpark on April 26 during a regional litter sweep scheduled around Earth Day.
Organized by the Upper Delaware Council, or UDC, the annual cleaning program attracted hundreds of volunteers from more than a dozen river towns over two weeks in April.
The targeted section in the Town of Deerpark is part of the famed Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, whose river valley vistas attract nearby motorists and drivers, some of whom leave behind liquor bottles, fast food wraps, and cigarette butts along the roadway.
“We live in a beautiful area, and we’d like to keep it clean,” volunteer and longtime Sparrow Bush resident Michelle Dean told The Epoch Times, noting that she and her neighbors also took it upon themselves to clean the town road near their houses.
Her husband, David Dean, a former town councilman, told The Epoch Times that volunteerism and lending a helping hand in times of need were at the heart of the country life that he was brought up in.
The Dean family has volunteered for the litter sweep for the past four years. About two years ago, they got their neighbors John and Karen Flynn to pick up the annual tradition, too.
“I just take pride in the area that I was born and raised in,” Mr. Flynn told The Epoch Times. “I like to kayak in the river, I like to swim in it, and I am glad to help clean it up.”
He added that he hoped that the government would do more to control littering, that businesses would do more to finance litter-cleaning programs, and that the schools would do more to educate children about the importance of keeping the environment clean.
Virginia Dudko, UDC’s town of Deerpark representative who organized the local litter sweep effort, told The Epoch Times that she looked forward to more volunteers next year.
Her husband, Bill Dudko, a town representative alternate at UDC, also participated in the litter sweep.
“[The volunteers’] enthusiastic spring clean-up efforts prepare the river valley to welcome our recreational visitors and enhance the quality of life for our residents,” UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie said in an April 29 statement to The Epoch Times.
“We are grateful to our financial sponsors, grants from three Sullivan County legislators and the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, a beautiful 2024 logo design by artist Eric J. Hinkley, our media sponsor WJFF Radio Catskill, businesses that contributed services, and especially to our Litter Leaders and Sweep volunteers who made it all possible.”
