Fort Wayne – Ten tires, two kiddie pools, a sump pump, a microwave and a doll head were among items collected by Staff Sgt. David Grimm’s Indiana Army National Guard team Saturday afternoon in the Maumee River.
As part of the National Guard’s nationwide Guard the Environment campaign, Grimm’s troops collected trash – 40 bags’ worth – along the river from near the Wells Street Bridge to the Thomas L. Deetz Nature Preserve in New Haven.
The cleanup crew included about 20 new enlistees in the recruitment sustainment unit, a preparatory stage before basic training and boot camp.
Sgt. Nathan King also participated in the five-hour effort, which started at the river banks near Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot on Saturday morning. He said the service project “shows that we’re growing as a community to help the families” of Fort Wayne appreciate the city’s three rivers.
“This is definitely one of the things the community wants to see,” he said. “It’s unifying, for one thing.”
Grimm said the river sweep also provided a valuable experience for his troops, many of whom are still learning basic skills and courtesies.
“It’s a way to give back to the community before the community gives back to them,” he said.
The National Guard unit first heard about the volunteer opportunity when one of its members, Sgt. Michele Berkes-Adams, became involved with Save the Maumee, a local river advocacy group.
She said the city economy could benefit from cleaner rivers, especially with businesses such as the Depot promoting river recreation.
But Abigail Frost-King, Save the Maumee’s founder, is hesitant to declare victory. She said she encountered some obstacles as she tried to organize the cleanup.
For example, she said Fort Wayne city government refused to provide a Dumpster for easy disposal of the extracted trash because Kreager Park, the project’s approximate end point, is not within city limits. She also noted the state Department of Natural Resources will provide garbage-collecting boats only twice a year.
Regardless, she praised Grimm’s troops for fulfilling a dirty task most workers avoid at all costs.
“No one else is cleaning up the waterways,” Frost-King said.
