Nantucket Clean Team

Friends:

There will be other “Special Events”. But here is a good one:

- This Saturday at 8:00 a.m.: the State Forest and the Disc Golf Course need us.

Meet on Lovers’ Lane (dirt road off of Old SOuth) and the entrance to the FOrest/Course.

Many thanks.

Bill Connell

Final call!

Well, maybe not final call. Hard to keep a good Clean Team down. Too many Type As on it.

Last Saturday, we welcomed new Members and even awarded T-Shirts to a new couple who are “over the moon” about cleaning. We had 17 Members on Madaket Road, two in Town and five finishing up hard work at Newtown Cemetery. The latter group is a “splinter” or renegade coterie. Very hard (headed) to rein them in.

This Saturday, no matter the weather, at 8:00 a.m.:

1. Town – Handlebar Café; and
2. I&M Building/Rotary to tackle Old South – a total mess – plus Sparks Avenue – even worse!

We will have “special events” in November or later. I will keep you informed. Expect Sam K. to bring us back to The Pond – derelict boats to be pulled onshore and disposed of. The Renegades threaten to schedule more!

So, a fond Farewell – uncharted seas ahead of us. For sure! But sincere thanks to Marine Home, Linda McAndrews, 97.7FM (Laura B. and Chris R.), Cisco Brewers, our DPW (Anthony! Hartley in retirement).

Could not do it without your support.

November 1st?? Revert to Adjunk Status. See it? Search for it. Get it.

Bill Connell

Friends:

Last Saturday’s drive to Tom Nevers in a pounding rain/heavy winds led to this thought: next headline in the I&M:

“Clean Team Fails! 4 ton goal missed! Captain resigns in utter disgrace. Other organizational irregularities probed.”

But then – being The Clean Team – by 8:15, the skies had cleared and rays of sunshine were on The Sea.

Three other hearty Members actually arrived. The photo, attached, tells the story. 687 pounds. A record haul! The Clean Team lives for another day – really, two days.

Meet this Saturday – no matter the weather – at 8:00 a.m.:

- The Handlebar Café. Need help in Town. Deb and Anne can’t handle it all alone; and

- Sanford Farm Parking Lot. The Madaket bikepath and road sides are begging for HELP!

Our last venture for the season (on October 31) will be Old South Road and environs. And you thought Madaket Road was our stepchild!

Bill Connell

Friends:

Since last week, we had 20+ person hours of cleaning:

1. Hunting Blind near Sas Pond;
2. Newtown Cemetery behind the Auto Body Shop; and
3. All of Bartlett Farm Road and the dirt roads leading to three beaches.

Another large haul; another 300 pounds or so.

This Saturday, we will meet in Town at 8:00 a.m.: Handlebar Café.

We will also meet at the playing fields in Tom Nevers. Meet at the site of the Old Navy Base, at the baseball diamond. The brush, fields and shoreline need us.

Bill Connell

This Saturday, we will meet in Town at 8:00 a.m. Meet at The Handlebar Café. Outside of Town, we will meet at the entrance to Bartlett Farm area to patrol the dirt roads leading to Ladies’ Beach and, of course, we will go in both directions along the shoreline.

Dear Friends:

One picture is worth 500 pounds of words. We had 25 hardworking members last Saturday at Jetties Beach. Take a look at the attached photo. That was quite a haul - and includes four tires and a metal rod at least 18 feet in length! I am not counting Todd’s efforts underneath the stairs at Steps Beach. Thank you, Todd, for that extra effort normally done by Herb N.

We will meet in Town at The Handlebar Cafe at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday. Outside of Town, also at 8:00 a.m., we will assemble at the paved turnout which overlooks Saschacha Pond along the Polpis Road. Mass Audubon's Sam Kefferstan will lead us to an unauthorized campsite in the forested land just beyond the Pond. We will dismantle it, and we will work on the bike path and roadsides and everything else we can find.

It gives me a sense of power to dismantle an illegal campsite. How about you? Ready to join us?

Bill Connell

Friends:

Special thanks to the new members and even a family who joined us on Old South Road last Saturday. We had so many people, I lost count. We almost lost roadsides to clean! But we left the following litter-free:

- all of Old South Road;
- most of Airport Road heading towards Surfside;
- Faregrounds Road;
- Boulevarde and Okoraw (?) Road;
- all of Lovers’ Lane; and
- the bike path and the new playground.

Oops! I forgot Brian and the heavily-littered path into the Disc Golf park.

Thanks to all. We will meet this Saturday in Town at the Handlebar Café and in the parking lot at Jetties Beach. Always at 8:00 a.m. for one hour, rain or shine.

Special thanks to Marine Home for the bags it gives us and the ads which it sponsors that allows us to reach new friends on radio station FM97.7. We would not be able to do this without that help and the excellent support from our Department of Public Works.

Bill Connell

Dear Friends:

Can you believe that last Saturday we ran out of roads and cemeteries to clean? Although it may have appeared clean, we gathered 306 pounds of litter last week. Special thanks, again, for your hard efforts. We are making a difference. Take a look at Milestone Road and Polpis Road. They are as clean as I have ever seen them.

No resting on laurels! We have an exceptionally difficult task this coming Saturday. We will be in Town at 8:00 a.m. for one hour, rain or shine. And, we will meet for a particularly difficult assignment:

- Old South Road and Lovers’ Lane

Let’s meet at the intersection of Old South and Lovers’ at 8:00 a.m., rain or shine, and we will make a real difference in that heavily traveled area.

For those who plan ahead, we will meet on September 26 in the parking lot at Jetties Beach.

Best wishes.

Bill Connell

Dear Friends:

We ran out of beach and roads to clean at Cisco. 27 Volunteers. We were reduced to getting cigarette butts, anything! Sincere thanks.

This Saturday: 8:00 a.m. for one hour, rain or shine:

1. Town at The Handlebar; and
2. Meeting at Ye Olde Mill to clean Dead Horse Valley/Mill Hill Park and around all the cemeteries.

This is always a special event for us. I see it as honoring the departed. I often praise our Land Trusts, but the sterling Nantucket Preservation Trust’s 2020 Annual Report caught my eye. Here is why we will do an extra special job this Saturday:

“We owe it to the people who came before us, who built the magnificent, historic buildings that continue to endure, year after year, standing sentinel over our little spit of sand.”

Well, well done, NPT. And we promise to do our part to honor those same people as they rest.

See you Saturday.

Bill Connell

Dear Friends:

21 of us out and about last Saturday. Terrific haul (245 pounds) last Saturday at Surfside.

Join Deb in Town at 8:00 a.m. Saturday. Our Out-of-Towners will meet at Cisco Beach Parking Lot off of Hummock Pond Road – also at 8:00 a.m., rain or shine.

And now to commend our Department of Public Works! With too little fanfare, it has posted election campaign-sized signs along our main roads/bike paths as designated roadside litter depositories; depositories which are picked up each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have spotted bags along Milestone Road awaiting their just rewards.

Need more publicity (I&M? Listening?) for this effort AND need a supply of small bags at each designated depository so walkers/bikers can “see it, pick it”.

Bill Connell

Friends:

Ten person hours of work left Milestone from Rotary to Fourth Milestone and a bit beyond perfectly clean. We had seven Members in Town.

But returning to Milestone today is like an arrow piercing my litter bag. Too much debris scattered around, all from our trucks, landscapers, the same old culprits. Deal with it, Bill. Go to the ER.

And go to Town – Handlebar – at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday.

Come to Surfside Beach parking lot for a major clean-up of a favorite beach.

Bill Connell

Join us this Saturday at 8:00 a.m.:

1. Town – meet at Handlebar Café; and
2. Corner of Milestone and Nobadeer Farm Road.

Keep it clean!