Ausable Freshwater Center staff: Krista Kennedy, Madison Stroud and Tully Miller (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

In the Adirondacks, a common expression is, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” The corollary is, “If you like the weather, wait a minute.”

What it means is that whatever the weather, we’ll deal with it as best we can as we pursue our activity. That way of life was exemplified by the more than 80 volunteers who came out Saturday, April 19, to pick up trash along the East and West branches of the AuSable River and several of its tributaries, from Lake Placid to Wilmington and from Keene to Jay.

Their efforts to clean parts of the AuSable watershed weren’t for the faint of heart. An overcast day turned into a deluge complete with thunder that didn’t back off until well after 11:30 a.m. Nonetheless, the Casella dumpster was getting well filled by noon, with still more coming in.

Volunteers were forewarned, as the Ausable Freshwater Center sent out and posted notices that rain was possible the night before and morning of the cleanup, and no matter what nature sent our way, the cleanup would go on. Of course, nowadays, while rooting along roadsides, riverbanks, and out in the brush and muck to pick up to the castaway whatever, protecting one’s self against mosquitoes, ticks and poison ivy is a required precaution. Hence, adding rain was just another part of the task.

“Despite the overcast skies and predictions of rain, we had a great turnout today,” said Madison Stroud, Ausable Freshwater Center operations director. “We decided to shift the base location from Wilmington Beach to Keene because it’s more accessible and open. We are still cleaning in Wilmington. It just made it a little bit easier to have the Keene pavilion as a hub. We clean along 73, 86, 9N and the side roads like River Road in Placid, Springfield in Wilmington and Hulls Falls in Keene. This year, Casella was very generous; they donated a dumpster we could use and loaned us high visibility vests and pickers for reaching hard to get pieces.”

Scott, Charlotte and Clair Glassen cleaned Springfield Road and picked up house siding, a muffler, roadkill and lots of bottles and cans (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Such volunteerism is necessitated by the number of people who toss bottles, cans, cups, cigarettes and other items out their windows while driving along roadways and do not properly secure trash and other items in their autos or trucks while zipping along. Some items seem to have been deliberately tossed over a bank as if trying to avoid dump fees. I think of the bed frame I found a couple of years ago. This year, two mailboxes and a front side panel of a car gave me pause, as well as a high number of Styrofoam coolers all within a block of roadway.

Some of the materials that volunteers find came from flooding. For example, last year, volunteers found remnants from the Keene firehouse that were washed away by Tropical Storm Irene.

“The amount of garbage that accumulates over the winter months can be substantial, so being able to clean it out before it washes into the river and the side steams is crucial as it impacts the ecology of the whole place as it includes pieces that don’t decompose and pose threats to the wildlife,” said Stroud.

“I worked the end of River Road toward 86,” said Tracy Viola. “I picked up a lot of cigarette butts. I also got a car battery, a piece of a wheel well and a lot of beer cans. There was a lot I couldn’t get to during the thunder, lightning and heaviest rain, so I came in to get more bags and plan to go back out. I’m doing this section because I like to run and paddle on River Road, so as I spend a lot of time there helping to clean it up is the least I can do.”

The goal of the Ausable Freshwater Center is to keep the lakes, rivers and streams of the AuSable River watershed healthy. As part of that, major undertakings have included repairing damaged waterways through field-based science and stewardship, educating people, seeking donations and grants and recruiting volunteers to engage in a wide array of activities like the annual cleanup.

Peter Slocum, David Thomas-Train and Pam Gothner (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

“Last year, we sampled the Cascade Lakes once a month,” said Krista Kennedy, the center’s water quality research associate. “They are very heavily salt impacted, they have similar levels and even higher than Mirror Lake.”

Alec Betancourt and Marque Moffett worked the 73 section from Cascade Lakes toward Keene. They came up with many cans, Styrofoam and other plastic items.

“We got a little drenched, but it’s getting nice now,” said Betancourt. “I’ll probably take a shower when I get home. I have to do some grocery shopping first.”

“I look for opportunities to connect with people and connect them with the scientific work that we do to make the Adirondacks a better place by studying our freshwater systems,” said Marque Moffett, stewardship manager of the center. “I try to help people understand that everything’s connected, the value of our waterways, and what we can do to help keep it protected.”

“We cleaned from the Lacy Bridge towards the community bike trails,” said Peter Slocum. “I didn’t pick up anything exciting: McDonald’s cups, beer cans, other trash, nothing special. Pam (Gothner) was very courageous; she went down the steep slopes and over the rocks, practically pulling stuff out of the river. I told her to come back and use her canoe to get the trash in the river.”

Alec Betancourt and Marque Moffett, stewardship manager of the Ausable Freshwater Center (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

“The banks were very steep,” said Pam. “I did a lot of up and down. I got my steps in.”

Julien Feller worked around the covered bridge in Jay. What was most exciting for him was finding a big bucket of laundry detergent.

“We came out to support the community; it’s our third time helping with the river cleanup and protecting the environment,” said Feller.

Ellen Fisher and her house guest Chiaki Watanave from Denmark picked up a lot of plastic, bottles, aluminum, glass and plastic, signs and golf balls along Airport Road and Route 73 in Keene.

“We have a similar volunteer effort in Denmark,” said Watanave, “except the focus is on the Copenhagen canals. I did that with my daughter, and we used kayaks. It’s fun, as is cleaning up alongside the rivers here.”

(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley and has been writing his column for the Lake Placid News since 2005.)