On a rainy Saturday morning, about 40 volunteers from Save the Great South Bay, wearing yellow safety vests, fanned out across two sites in Patchogue to collect trash.

James Bertsch, a Save the Great South Bay director, estimates that the two groups—one working at Tuthills Creek and along West Lake and the other by the Patchogue wastewater treatment plant—collected an estimated 1,500 pounds of discarded items that might otherwise have found their way into the bay.

“This is the most debris we’ve collected in any of our cleanups this season,” said Bertsch, who was part of the group cleaning up around Tuthills Creek.
Jennifer George and Brian Pendergast are Save the Great South Bay’s two Patchogue Creek Defenders.

George said the cleanup, which attracted everyone from retirees to a local Girl Scout troop, was a success.

“I think it went great,” George said. “And it was fun, too. Even though it was raining, we had fun.”

“You feel like you’re doing something,” she said. “You’re getting your neighbors together and doing something to make your neighborhood look nicer.”

“We’ll definitely do it again,” she said.

At the Tuthills Creek/West Lake site, volunteers pulled out milk crates, car parts, a signpost, a wood pallet, and a plastic children’s play table, among other items.

A steady drizzle didn’t dampen the volunteers’ enthusiasm.

“I kind of like it on a rainy day because it shows that we want to help out a lot,” said 9-year-old Ruby Allen, who came with other members of her Girl Scout troop, Isobel MacAuley and Katelynn Lamia.

Lynn Dwyer, 65, of Patchogue, was another of the volunteers Saturday.

Dwyer, who retired recently as program director for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, said plastics are polluting our waterways and causing a growing problem for marine life.

“Long Islanders love to recreate,” said Dwyer, who filled three large bags with trash. “They love to be on the water and live on the water, so we need to address this.”

If you missed the April 20 cleanup, Save the Great South Bay will hold a cleanup along the Swan River in East Patchogue on Saturday, April 27 starting at 9 a.m. Volunteers will meet at the Pine Neck Avenue boat ramp. Register online at www.savethegreatsouthbay.org