SHREWSBURY – On Mother’s Day, seven members of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) joined forces to celebrate Mother Earth and clean the north end of Lake Quinsigamond.
The AMC members – from Northborough, Shrewsbury, Oxford and Sturbridge – spent hours paddling around the lake in canoes and kayaks to collect trash and pollution. In total, the group pulled 34 tires out of the lake. The tires were collected by the Department of Public Works the next day.
“These were gung-ho people,” AMC member Patrice Thibodeau told the Community Advocate. “We knew where the tires were, we went straight for them, and we dug them out.”
The club also picked up other pieces of trash from Gauch Park and Lake Quinsigamond, including cigarette butts, plastic water bottles and a children’s basketball hoop.
“It was pretty muddy, [and] a little stinky,” Thibodeau said. “One person did fall in the water.”
The group saw lots of the lake’s wildlife, including turtles, swan, geese, muskrats, blue heron, and fish.
“We got… dirty but are happy to clean up our environment for the [animals],” Thibodeau explained.
According to the AMC website, the group has been “fostering the protection, enjoyment, and
understanding of the outdoors since 1876.” The AMC “protect[s] the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions through hands-on stewardship, scientific research, and public policy advocacy.”
“We’re very into conversation. We’re very into leaving no traces behind – you go out and all you leave are your footprints. We’re very into the cleaning of the environment,” Thibodeau said. The group participates in hikes, bicycle rides, and backpacking.
This is the second time the AMC has cleaned the lake. The group found 26 tires on its first expedition.
More information on the AMC can be found at outdoors.org
