State trooper Seth W. Mann’s last arrest Friday was of a drunken driver, a suspect he dropped off to be processed at the Allen County Jail sometime before 3 a.m.By 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Abby Frost-King and her fellow environmental activists had pulled two tons of trash out of the Maumee River.
Among the more unusual findings were two mattresses, a wading pool, a water heater, a tuxedo jacket and someone’s tax form. And with an hour or so of cleaning to go, more surprises were yet to come.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter what else comes out,” Frost-King said as she stood near the river. “It’s all ridiculous.”
Frost-King’s group, Save the Maumee, conducted its sixth annual Earth Day celebration Sunday, just a few days before the holiday Friday.
About 200 volunteers gathered on the banks of the river near Anthony Boulevard to plant seeds and trees and pull trash from the muddy Maumee.
The celebration included performances by local bands, a lecture about water conservation and wildlife presentations by Soarin’ Hawk Raptor Rehab.
“There’s a really good feeling around,” said Les Lesser, a volunteer and band member of The Wilderness, which played during the cleanup. “It’s all about raising awareness of how dirty and disgusting our rivers are.”
Frost-King said she didn’t think much about Fort Wayne’s rivers until 2000, when she moved near the Maumee. At first, she was excited by the thought of letting her kids swim in the river. But her enthusiasm turned to horror when she learned about the sewage, manure and chemicals in the water.
When Frost-King first started her river cleanup event, she used her own money to pay for seeds to plant along the shore. Today, she depends largely on financial and seed donations.
Although Frost-King believes it will take a massive, coordinated effort to clean up the city’s rivers, she said events like Sunday’s give people the sense that they can make a difference.
“I wanted to give people something tangible to do to help,” she said. “And it’s fun. That’s what Earth Day is all about.”
