WASHINGTON — Spring is finally here, and to celebrate, Laurel residents were out enjoying the weather and doing a bit of spring cleaning on Saturday at Riverfront Park.
“There’s a shopping cart down by the bridge. I saw it yesterday and I was thinking in my head, ‘gee, I hope there’s a river clean-up,’” says Vicky Phelps. That was Friday, and on Saturday morning, Vicky and her husband, David Phelps, were taking part in the annual the Patuxent River clean-up. The river is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
Phelps says they take advantage of the park almost every day, either running or walking, and says they are happy to be able to give back.
Laurel Parks and Recreation Department director Mike Lhotsky says this is the 13th year for the river clean-up at the park. The Patuxent Riverkeeper coordinates the event.
Lhotsky says up and down the entire par, there are groups that maintain the river on a daily basis.
“But today (Saturday) is a day where we come out as a group and help clean it up and get some stuff out of the river. And we do it also to help with our park, Riverfront Park to keep the park looking good,” says Lhotsky.
Mike Leszcz, Laurel City Councilman at-large says, “The goal here is to keep the trash out of the river. If it gets in the river, it gets down in the Chesapeake Bay and into the ocean then you have these flotillas of plastic bottles and plastic bags.”
A unique feature of the Patuxent is that it’s the only river that is fully-contained within the state of Maryland.
“We use this park a lot actually. I figured it would be a good way to give back,” says Harry Stello. He is the father of twin seven-year-old boys, Harry and Hunter Stello.
He also refers to their friend Jackson Wilde, who’s also seven years old, as kind of his “adopted son” because Wilde is with them a lot. Stello says he told the three boys they were heading to the park to help clean up. The boys didn’t have a problem with it, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Stello says even at a young age, they can help out.
