Published: April 07, 2008 10:11 am      

Taking PRIDE

More than 280 participate in Cumberland Falls Litter Cup event

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Somewhere, there’s bald man who didn’t appreciate a joke about his lack of hair, and his novelty “bald man’s hairbrush” — a piece of painted plywood — that ended up with so much other trash near Cumberland Falls State Park found by a Corbin Girl Scout.

Brittany Marcum found the strange bit of litter during PRIDE’s inaugural Cumberland Falls Litter Cup, which drew more than 280 volunteers who picked up trash along Hwy. 90 from U.S. 27 in McCreary County to U.S. 25 in Whitley County.

At first, she didn’t know what she had found.

“It’s a case for CSI,” she joked. But after deciphering the faded letters, she was pleased enough to submit her find for the strangest trash recovered contest.

Corbin-area Girl Scout Troops 215, 205 and 247 spent hours near a small pullover on the Whitley County side of Hwy. 90, pulling debris from the hillside that included a folding lawn chair, a propane tank, soda cans, two books and other surprising discoveries.

“You see more alcohol (bottles) than you do other things,” said Girl Scout Michaela Martin.

The cleanup was organized by PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment) and is the kickoff to the two-week PRIDE Spring Cleanup events that continue through April 19. Local governments organize the other cleanup events and PRIDE provides gloves, trash bags and free T-shirts for volunteers.

“Cumberland Falls is just one of the most beautiful assets in the state of Kentucky, it’s definitely one of the most beautiful in our region, so we thought this would be an excellent location to kick off our spring cleanup,” said Tammie Wilson, vice president and operating officer of PRIDE. “We have events going on, hundreds of events actually, from the east in Pike County to the west in Monroe.”

U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers, who started the PRIDE initiative in 1997 within the 38 counties in his 5th Congressional District, kicked off Saturday’s cleanup and accepted an $8,000 donation from Wal-Mart, the event’s exclusive Gold Level sponsor.

“We were a little afraid at first that the weather might hinder our attendance some, but we had 279 to sign up and we have 280-plus here today,” Wilson said. “It hasn’t rained on us since we started at 10 a.m.”

Volunteers began to regroup at the falls at about 1 p.m., some hauling in their unique trash.

The Girls Scouts’ entries include a man’s dress shoe found by Faith Fox, and a book called “Fire Under Snow” found by Amber Allen, but the award for the strangest piece of trash went to a volunteer who found a discarded car door.

Whitley and McCreary counties competed for the “Litter Cup,” with McCreary County taking home the honor for having the most registered volunteers.

The McCreary County ATV/OHV Club won the award for the group with the most volunteers. St. Camillus Academy in Corbin took home the award for largest school group of volunteers, and Pine Knott Job Corp and Beulah Mountain Christian Academy tied for second place among school groups.

Though the volunteers picked up truck loads of trash, it’s only a dent in the ongoing problem of litter. Visit www.kypride.org or contact your county solid waste coordinator to see what other cleanup events are scheduled throughout April.

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is still holding its annual river cleanup May 17. To sign up for the river cleanup, contact the park at 528-4121.