Ogunquit News
Labor Day Weekend labor of love keeps Ogunquit's beaches clean
By C. Ayn Douglass
Americorps volunteers David Mack of Tulsa, Okla., Sabrina Smoke of the San Francisco Bay Area, Calif., and Nicole Page of Albany, Ore., were among those who helped clean Ogunquit's beaches, parking lots and riverfront areas during the Third Annual Ogunquit Beach Cleanup Day on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Photo by C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - Despite the Labor Day holiday weekend and driving winds that created whitecaps on the horizon as far as the eye could see, there was no shortage of labor for the Third Annual Ogunquit Beach Cleanup Day on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Approximately 40 hardy volunteers headed to Ogunquit Beach to collect refuse left behind over the summer.
The event was sponsored by the Ogunquit Conservation Commission, but the volunteers came from points far beyond Ogunquit's borders.
Armed with warm clothing and work gloves, representatives from Americorps and Volunteers for Peace from as far away as Japan, Germany and Northern Ireland donated three Saturday morning hours to clean the beaches from Moody Beach to Ogunquit Beach of bottles, cans and miscellaneous material left behind through the busy tourist season.
Conservation Commission Chairman Mike Horn said there was a noticeable decrease in the amount collected from the first year they began the project in 2003.
"The first year there was an amazing amount of refuse, especially in the dunes area," he said. "Last year it was somewhat less and this year, with the fences up and signs posted, people are respecting the area and there's not as much foot traffic there."
Horn said the type of refuse has also changed over the last three years.
"The first year we found sleeping huts and blankets and the usual multi-amounts of bottles and cans, but this year it was mostly bottles and cans and remains of wire lobster traps and Styrofoam buoys," he said.
Horn said the commission is grateful for the volunteers from Americorps and Volunteers for Peace who have been stationed at Laudholm Farm in Wells for a period of time this summer. The volunteer effort of the two groups was spearheaded by Judy Cohen of Laudholm Farm.
The volunteers separated recyclables from the rest of the trash and John Webber's Highway Department crew picked up the bags at the end of the day.
Americorps volunteer Nicole Page of Albany, Ore., said she was enjoying her stay in Maine and was glad to help out with the effort on Saturday.
"I love it here," she said. "It reminds me of Oregon."
Volunteers were fed well during the event with food donated by Jackie's Too, Bread and Roses, Village Food Market, Dunkin' Donuts, Hannaford, Congdon's Donuts, Amore Breakfast, and The Egg and I.
All parking lots, beaches and the shoreline along the Ogunquit River have been cleaned and once again Ogunquit is the "Beautiful Place by the Sea" for another year.
