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Photos by Kelly Griffith
Nearly 50 took part in the Clean Sweep around Garner Apr. 17. Another 30 helped at the Lake Benson Boathouse that morning. The celebration of Earth Day continued with an open house at White Deer Park where an American Wildlife Refuge volunteer showed off several raptors including a Gray-Horned Owl.
From the Big Sweep at the Lake Benson boathouse and the Clean Sweep around town to the Celebration of Nature at White Deer Park, Garner is plenty ready for Earth Day this week.
Nearly 50 people tied on orange vests and filled bags with trash along Garner’s roads Apr. 17.
The Daisies of Cleveland Troop 579 popped up at the event for their first community service project of the sort.
Troop leader Sandy Parrish said the Daisies were excited to take part in the event and help the community.
The Brownies of Troop 1859 also helped out with the project as their annual community service project.
Their troop leader, Carin Pittman, said the girls have done clean sweeps in other locations. Still, they were excited to help in Garner this year while working on requirements for their “Back to Planet Earth” badge.
“It makes things look nice,” one scout said.
For the third year, Jaclyn Sumner took the lead on the Clean Sweep project. Sumner works in the Town of Garner’s Engineering Dept.
She made sure families and groups were well prepared with gloves, vests, Clean Sweep t-shirts, litter pokers and plenty of bags. Participants even had the chance to enjoy breakfast biscuits from Chic-fil-A before they set out from Lake Benson Park to get started.
More than 10 members of the police force were out cleaning up Vandora Springs Road. The Garner police adopted the road nearly 20 years ago and do a litter sweep once a quarter.
With the help of some of the Police Explorers, the Garner PD split up Vandora Springs Road into four sections and worked in teams along the busy street.
The Big Sweep at the Lake Benson boathouse was another success for Garner with nearly 30 people showing up to help with spring cleaning.
Celebrating nature
White Deer Park filled up quickly as residents stopped by the Nature Center to learn about plants, animals and ways to go green.
Staff handed out Longleaf Pine tree seedlings, North Carolina’s state tree while a golden eagle showed off her wingspan for a large crowd on the Observation Deck.
A volunteer from the American Wildlife Refuge, soon to be called the Raleigh Raptor Refuge, displayed several birds from a gray-horned owl to a Peregrin Falcon crossbreed.
The volunteer told the crowd most of the birds that come to the refuge are injured by automobile accidents.
“One bird, one car, one pain,” he said.
Inside the Nature Center, various groups, like the Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, set up booths.
The Rehabilitation Clinic opened in August 2009, just two weeks after the Piedmont Wildlife Center Clinic closed its doors in Durham.
Director Joy Gurganus said most people don’t know the hospital is available. By calling the clinic, people can get information on how to care for an injured wild animal or find out if it is better to leave it alone.
Gurganus said the if possible, the clinic staff tries to encourage people to leave babies with the mother.
“Mommy knows best,” she said.
The clinic staff is on hand to answer questions. For those who have a wild animal in need, call 919-544-3330 or visit www.trianglewildlife.org.
There also were composting demonstrations during the event to encourage Garner residents to go green.
At White Deer Park, staff uses composting to create soil to be reused by collecting grass clippings in the spring and summer and leaves in the fall. The staff also includes recycled paper, cardboard and food like banana peels or most anything that isn’t a meat or protein.
It takes about nine months for compost piles to be ready to be used as soil, according to staff, but it keeps organic material out of landfills and you reap the benefits.
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