In early 2002, Cincinnati Trackers proposed that the University of Cincinnati Mountaineering Club (UCMC) and Cincinnati Parks join us in a major project. On November 2, 2002, the proposal became reality.
It was a brisk autumn morning for those volunteers who sacrificed their Saturday to make the park safer for wildlife and park visitors. As a result of a one-week rain delay "only" 23 volunteers turned out (30-40 had been expected the previous Saturday). Climbers from the UCMC rigged ropes down a steep hillside beginning at 7:00am. These haul systems - four in total - proved to be crucial to the success of this ambitious project.
Most of the volunteers focused on scouring the heavily vegetated hillside for litter, loading it into five-gallon buckets, and carrying the buckets across the hillside to the nearest haul system.
The buckets of litter were loaded onto a haul system and hoisted up to the top of the hill.
The buckets were emptied into wheelbarrows, aluminum was sorted out for recycling, and the rest was moved to a dumpster.
Bucket brigades were sometimes used to move loaded buckets up the hill.
By 6:00pm, we had removed approximately two tons (8 cubic yards) of litter from a steep hillside below the reserved picnic area at Alms Park. This was just shy of our goal, but a tremendous accomplishment considering we had only two-thirds the number of volunteers that the project plan specified.
Cincinnati Parks and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful helped get the word out to the media. The use of ropes and other climbing equipment for a clean-up attracted a fair bit of media attention. Channel 12, Channel 5, and the Cincinnati Post all covered the event. It was refreshing to see twenty seconds of positive news of volunteerism amid twenty minutes of reporting about violence, fear, murder, football, and weather.
THANK YOU to everyone who helped organize, prepare for, and execute the project. We dreamed big, we worked very hard, and we accomplished a lot. Thanks to your effort, one of the most heavily littered areas in Alms Park is now much safer for wildlife and visitors. Most importantly, you set an example in volunteerism and community service.