LBCC Students Lead Waverly Park Cleanup

Organized by Krista Thortenberry and Amanda Mendell, with on-site lead Sawyer Brubaker, a volunteer clean up crew took to Waverly Park Monday, Jan. 17. The park has been adopted by LBCC’s Student Leadership Council, hoping to combat trash accumulation. 

According to Rob Camp, Albany Parks and Recreation had budget cuts resulting in their staff of 22 to be reduced to two. This creates a demand for the public to step up and take responsibility for waste. Noble Hour posts volunteer opportunities for interested students. 

Waverly Park is best known for its giant floating duck and paddle boats in the summertime. It is also home to actual ducks, swans, geese, and is stocked with rainbow trout for fishing recreation. A few members of the clean-up crew were thanked for their efforts by local fishermen on the edge of the lake.

The day’s biggest effort was extracting a shopping cart from the lake. This was achieved by Rob Camp actually going into the water to get it. While being supported by his crew, he was able to pull it free from the mud and chilly waters. 

More than 10 bags were filled with improperly disposed waste from the park within three hours, and removing blackberry vines and English ivy (both highly invasive plants) made a noticeable impact on the environmental quality for the birds, fish and plants. 

Volunteers included: Victoria Augas, Jaxx Augas, Rob Camp, “Beck,” Sawyer Brubaker, Jordan Smith, Jolene Vallejo and Trevor Nunn.