In it for the long haul: Volunteers help clean Palm Coast's Intracoastal Waterway

Since 2008, the event has collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash.

By Brian McMillan
| 1:00 p.m. September 14, 2020

Maison Leonard and Steven Rumph

Juliana Selic, 11; Breia Forwood, 16; Ariel Curtis, Scoutmaster for BSA Girls Troop 428; Braxton Prince, 8; and Rowan Curtis, 15

Jaci Phillips and her son, Vincent, equipped themselves with battery-powered fans for the cleanup. Photos by Brian McMillan

Jaxon Narrington, Orion Travell and Braden Fulghum

Logan Milbrandt

Senior Patrol Leader Colin Milbrandt, Suzanna Milbrandt and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Andrew Wheeler

Jason Wheeler has been a scouting volunteer for 12-15 years. This is his first year as scoutmaster of Troop 281.

Former Senior Patrol Leader Tyler Grady and Assistant Senior Patrol Seth Harding

Jason Wheeler designed the troop's T-shirt, adding a face mask onto Robert Baden-Powell, who founded Boy Scouts about 100 years ago.

Shawn Cox, Vanessa Fulghum and Ed Narrington

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

With the sun streaming through the Spanish moss at Herschel King Park on Sept. 12, volunteers filled black plastic bags with trash — including shoes, headlights and a rusty, unopened beer bottle — as part of the city of Palm Coast’s annual Intracoastal Waterway Cleanup.

“If we don’t keep it clean, nobody else will."

ARIEL CURTIS, BSA Girls Troop 4281 Scoutmaster

“This is our city,” said Ariel Curtis, scoutmaster for BSA Girls Troop 4281. “If we don’t keep it clean, nobody else will. We all have to pitch in.”

Curtis, in her sixth year as a leader, has four girls in her troop and hopes to eventually have 10-15 as younger girls advance. Visit beascout.org and look up Girls Troop 4281 to join.

Also at Herschel King Park was BSA Troop 281 Scoutmaster Jason Wheeler, who was pleased with the scouts' positive attitude.

“They’ve been cooped up for so long they’re just happy to be outside,” he said.

Wheeler was pleased that 28 boys have remained involved in the troop through unusual times; in-person meetings resumed two weeks ago after a spring and summer of Zoom meetings. Twelve also went to summer camp this year.

“We have great parents,” Wheeler said. “They’re the ones who make this thing go.”

13th-annual cleanup

The mascot for the 13th-annual event was Sir Otterton the otter, named by city employees in a recent contest. Past years have had different mascots of animals found in nature such as a dolphin, turtle and manatee.

There were 150 volunteers this year, about half the normal number, according to city staff. Also, there was no ceremony at the Community Center to celebrate the work of the volunteers, due to the pandemic.

"It was great that we were still able to have the event with some major changes, but we will be very happy to hopefully get the event back to normal next year," said Jordan Myers, environmental planning technician with the city.

Since the city's inaugural event in 2008, volunteers have collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash – each year averages about 2,000 pounds. The event is supported by a $5,000 Florida Inland Navigation District grant award.

author

Brian McMillan

Brian McMillan and his wife, Hailey, bought the Observer in 2023. Before taking on his role as publisher, Brian was the editor from 2010 to 2022, winning numerous awards for his column writing, photography and journalism, from the Florida Press Association.