If you go up the James River and take a left, you’ll find the Appomattox River and the towns of Dinwiddie, Ettrick, Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights. You’ll also find a network of riverside parks.
In the spirit of Earth Day, Friends of the Lower Appomattox River (FOLAR) are asking volunteers to join a Spring River Cleanup on Saturday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. They ask that prospective participants register online, pick a site, and come out to help restore healthy shorelines by removing litter, debris, and trash along the Appomattox River.
FOLAR’s Volunteer Spring River Cleanup allows those who love to play along the river an opportunity to make a big difference for the wildlife, ecosystem, water quality, and overall cleanliness of the Appomattox’s riverside parks. Volunteers can come for as little as 15 minutes or stay the full three hours. Crew organizers, supported by Meridian Waste, will provide guidance, trash bags, gloves, and grabbers. They advise wearing sturdy shoes and long sleeve shirts/pants, with work gloves if possible. They’ll also offer water and snacks to those who help.
If helping river life and improving shorelines aren’t enough incentive, Trapezium Brewery invites helpers to a “First Beer on Us!” Volunteer Appreciation Event at the brewery in Old Towne Petersburg, Va. The crew organizers will give out drink tickets during the cleanup.
This isn’t the only chance to get involved with helping the Lower Appomattox. FOLAR hosts spring and fall river cleanups every year with the help of many volunteers and FOLAR members. Each year, they remove hundreds of pounds of trash from the lower Appomattox riverfront, improving drinking water quality and overall cleanliness in the region.
For the April 30 Spring River Cleanup, FOLAR lists the following sites:
- Ferndale/Appomattox Riverside Park, 24909 Ferndale Rd, Dinwiddie, VA 23803
- Ettrick / VSU Trailhead, 3801 Main St, Chesterfield, VA 23803
- Petersburg Harbor, 277 River St, Petersburg, VA 23803
- Rotary Park at Petersburg’s Pocahontas Island, 205 Rolfe St, Petersburg, VA 23803
- Hopewell Riverwalk, 205 Appomattox St, Hopewell, VA 23860
- Colonial Heights Annual “Adopt-a-Roadway” Cleanup. NOTE: Register separately through the City of Colonial Heights, Patsy Dixon, [email protected], (804) 520-9230.
For more information, please visit FOLAR-VA.org/events/river-clean-ups or contact Wendy Austin at [email protected].
-John Page Williams
