Kissimmee River Valley gives up piles of its junk

[rick]

Claudia Zequeira | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 12, 2007

LAKE KISSIMMEE -- Pains-takingly, they fished out the items one by one in the early morning chill: a spare tire, a tricycle and baseball caps and soda cans too numerous to count.

But the debris quickly turned to gold for some of those who gathered Saturday at Polk County's Camp Mack as prizes were awarded for those who collected the most trash from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.

The do-gooders, some 300 airboat enthusiasts, received $2,500 from the Kissimmee River Valley Sportsman Association, which sponsored the all-out trash hunt. Keep Polk County Beautiful, a nonprofit organization, donated garbage bags, gloves and other equipment and helped judge the event.

Enjoying the outdoors and civic-mindedness, however...

Full Story: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...4470510.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-osceola

 

[basketcase0302]

Rick,

There goes that "airboat ESP" again :wink:

Good article, good to see airboaters get some good PR.

Thanks for posting.

Basketcase

 

[SwampMatt]

"Educating the public has had a lot to do with that," said Brantley. "We keep telling people 'You bring it, you take it home with you.' "

That was the last line from the article - a great quote to leave readers with.

Thanks Rick - That was a good very positive article. I'm glad the Sentinel sent out a reporter. They are a good newspaper.

Here's a photo from the day - there was a good crowd. This is Danny Brantley auctioning off a camo shotgun.

It just cannot be denied that Camp Mack is a BEAUTIFUL place to spend a day.
(ALMOST as beautiful as getting out on the lakes)


matt.

 

[K-mac]

When was the last time the anti-airboaters did any thing
positive to help our states natural places?

 

[Anonymous]

Nice article.
Who is going to forward it to all the Osceola County Commissioners who voted to discriminate against us?

 

[vickchick5]

Well, being I was at the Osceola Airboat Meeting tonight, they had the article passing around and I'm pretty sure they are on that! (Plus those good ole boys in the county commissioners office read it this morning, probably at their weekly breakfast session) The more ammunition like these kinds of article will definitely help. The people that live and airboat in Osceola County have spent years fighting the same old battles that surround airboating. I know they will continue to do so-remember all clubs and airboaters have to continue to pull together and fight for rights.

When you click on the link Rick posted for the article, if you scroll to the bottom of the article you will see a "post a comment" section. Can you imagine if a whole bunch of people from this forum posted positive comments? I did mine today!

GREAT ARTICLE!

 

[Johnboy]

I made sure the 4 Osceola County Commissioners got a e-mail with a link to this article. Hope they enjoy it.

 

[Whitebear]

I posted my comments and some of your's especially about wondering if ANY of the antis have done ANYTHING at all on this scale to benefit the environment or nature.

Scotty

 

[basketcase0302]

Gatorstick,

Yep, some of us are trying! Here is my e-mail as well as the content of my response.

Mr. English, As a citizen of Polk County and an airboater I would like to thank you for your help with the lake cleanup on Saturday. It was truly an honor to have someone such as yourself taking the time out of your family life and busy schedule to help us. Sincerely, Jeff Patterson

my reply was...

Dear Mr. Patterson:



Thanks you for your kind note. Everyone made me feel most welcome at the clean up event. I have a new respect for airboaters and their efforts to preserve the beauty of Polk County and enjoy our gifts of nature in a responsible way. I look forward to visiting again next year.



Best regards,



Bob English,

BoCC, District 1

Keep in mind that this is a Polk County Commissioner not Osceola, (there was not an Osceola Commissioner in attendance. If ya'll remember Big Daddy had invited them to the lake cleanup back at the first ordinance meeting months ago

Basketcase