Coastal Cleanup events rally more than 1,800 volunteers

Hordes of volunteers took out the trash as they scoured the West Pasco countryside for litter during the recent Coastal Cleanup campaign.

They picked up an estimated 15.5 tons of litter, Pasco County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Seney reported.

Volunteer numbers increased by half, with an extra 600 workers this year, Seney said. She counted 1,881 people in all who showed their concern for the environment.

"That's progress, that's great," Seney commented in a press release, "and we owe it all to the team captains."

Seney is thanking the Coastal Cleanup captains and co-captains: Michelle Barbour, Toby Brewer, Karen Bryant, Don Charlick, Cheryl Cleveland, Kurt Conover, Betsy Crisp, Jack Farrell, Larry Flick, John Floyd, Danielle Foles, Kelli Gochenaur, Mike Gollasch, Rick Gruber, Deb Hamilton, Kim Hoffman, Joanne Hurley, Ted Jarrett, Dan Johnson, Bill Lusk, Al Meyer, Laura Morrison, Pat Pike, Coni and Denny Shoda, Elaine Smith, Robin Soto, Sherry Stamback, Gina Summers, Linda Whitman, Jim Wilcox, Patti Woja.

An equally enthusiastic group, Make Mine Bluegreen, concentrated its efforts on the Anclote Key area the same day as Coastal Cleanup.

"It always feels good after a big coastal clean up, a feeling of self satisfaction not unlike the feeling you get after a day of spring cleaning," Prinuss Obriot, president of Make Mine Bluegreen, said.

Thirty volunteers boarded two boats, the Gulfstar and the Islander, bound for Anclote Key for the International Coastal Cleanup, she added. A smaller, 22-foot, boat, the Little Big Ship, and one personal watercraft ferried people to shore.

The group collected 56 bags of mixed trash, 32 bags of recyclable trash, a boat, a Sealife underwater digital camera with strobe (still working), a ship's cargo net, a sand blasting tank, a grill, 40-gallon container and about 2,000 feet of pieces of rope.