Cub Scouts take home Crud Cup
The 13th annual Foss Creek Cleanup took place on Saturday, Sept. 23 and the community turned out in force to help remove trash and protect the watershed.
Cub Scout Pack 21 rallied the troops, and in the end would go home with the coveted Crud Cup for most trash collected, but they some heavy competition from Girl Scout Troop 10176. This marked the first year the Girl Scouts participated in the cleanup and they gave the Cubs a run for the top prize.
Rumor has it the Crud Cup was found at the very first Foss Creek Cleanup and has been given to the most prolific trash collecting group each year since. The original trophy has been covered with the names of past winners, so their names now go on an accompanying larger plaque. A stuffed animal of a sea otter cradling a pup on its chest sits inside the cup, as a reminder that trash collected here will not end up in our fragile oceans.
Educating people about that link, from the creek beds to the ocean is as much a part of the cleanup as the actual trash removal, according to Healdsburg Utilities Director Terry Crowley. “It helps with the educational outreach, that’s what a lot of this is — educating people about how much stuff ends up in the river and where it all ends up eventually,” he said. “This community is really supportive of the program. Every year there’s a bunch of people and they end up getting a lot of stuff out every year.”
This year, trash collectors faced a different challenge from years past — the creek was still full of water and running in some places, making their job more challenging.
“There is water in the creek so it becomes a little bit more challenging, we can’t reach all of the areas, but still what we focus on is what’s along the banks,” Crowley said. “We’re looking at what happens when the high water comes in and we don’t want all the this trash to end up in the creek, plug up the drain and then eventually end up in the Russian River. That’s the biggest piece; we’re trying to stop that pollution from happening. Yes, there’s a lot of water here, but were still getting a lot of stuff out and our feet aren’t wet.”
Another prize is given each year for the strangest or most unique item found and this year there were many potential front runners, including a makeshift weapon made out of rebar, nails and, inexplicably, a pink stuffed teddy bear. Other oddities included a seemingly intact stuffed chair, multiple bicycles and a large outdoor fishpond. However, if you asked one group of boys from Pack 21, they all had an immediate answer to what they thought was the strangest item.
“Bras,” they all shrieked in unison, horror written all over their young faces.
When it came time to choose the Crud Cup and strangest item winners, Healdsburg Vice Mayor Brigette Mansell was there to judge. After awarding the Crud Cup to the Cub Scouts, she then named the fishpond the oddest item, given the “irony of a pond in a creek.”
For taking home the Crud Cup, the Cub Scout pack got a gift certificate to the Toy Chest toy store, which they planned on using to acquire items for their annual holiday toy drive later in the fall. The Girl Scouts came in second.
Following the cleanup and awards, the community was invited to attend the first annual Kiwanis Safety Fair, put on at the Foss Creek Community Center. Upon check in, attendees received a lunch ticket, a raffle ticket, (the winner received a $700 gift certificate from co-sponsor Spoke Folk Cyclery) and a “Safety Fair Passport.”
The passport, printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other helped guide families through activities and encouraged folks to visit all the demonstrations and get their passport stamped. Activities included getting to spray a fire hose, hands only CPR trainings, free bicycle helmets, a bike rodeo and car seat checks and instillation.
“This is our first ever safety fair and its something Kiwanis clubs all over the country do,” said Kiwanis past president Loretta Strong. “It’s part of the programs that we support, but it’s the first we’ve ever done for our club and basically it’s all about child safety issues.”
Strong is fluent in Spanish and was helping check in new families in whatever language they needed. “We’ve made a huge effort to have all of this done in English and Spanish because we know over 50 percent of our children in our community schools are of Hispanic origin and are not English speakers yet, or their parents aren’t,” she said.
Most local safety and law enforcement groups were there, including the California Highway Patrol, Healdsburg Fire and Healdsburg Police, along with Bell’s Ambulance and Calfire. PG&E, the Healdsburg Electric Department and the Red Cross were also on hand, along with community groups like the Book Mobile and Corazón Healdsburg.
Safety Fair by the numbers
According to Randy Collins the President of the Kiwanis Club, the first ever Safety Fair had a strong debut, with over 320 visitors making the rounds of the booths and stations. Cal Fire did a flyover with the Bogg’s Mountain helicopter and the Red Cross had so much interest in their disaster preparation information they ran out of literature. Healdsburg resident Carilina Avila walked away with the $700 gift certificate to Spoke Folk Cyclery.
Additionally:
- Twenty car seats were installed, with four being donated to financially challenged families.
- The Bike Skills class had 183 participants: 103 kids and 80 adults (45 rode bikes).
- Richard Peacock of Spoke Folk Cyclery repaired 18 bicycles.
- Forty-five “loaner” bicycles were made available for various activities.
- Kiwanis Club donated 94 bicycle helmets to children.
- Approximately 70 people learned “Hands Free” CPR from Save Lives Sonoma.
- 300 meals were served.
