Local communities celebrate Earth Day with cleanup events

The first Earth Day was celebrated April 22, 1970. Since then, people and communities across the United States have been pitching in to help in cleaning up the planet and advocating for environmental concerns.

Even in Cambria County, there are plenty of folks who are trying to do their part to be more environmentally conscious.

Prince Gallitzin State Park holds one of the largest cleanups in the area, and according to park manager Jessica Lavelua, the park has been hosting this event for eight years. This year’s event was held Saturday, April 20, and approximately 140 people attended.

In addition to picking up roadside litter across 6 miles, the volunteers planted 42 trees, rehabilitated 17 campsites, made upgrades to the disc golf course and fixed a portion of the Bollinger Trail.

Tim Yeager, assistant park manager, said that while the park hosts cleanups at various times of the year, the Earth Day cleanup is the most popular.

“It’s all hands on deck to really pick up a lot of litter and plant trees and really get the park looking nice for the season,” Yeager said.

Over in the Portage area, Dennis Beck has been working with the Portage Area School District for over 20 years coordinating cleanups at Crichton McCormick Park and other sites in the community. The cleanups were halted for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic, but were resurrected last year.

This year on April 19, 200 students pitched in at the park to pick up trash, rake leaves and help out at the Traditional Anglers of Pennsylvania’s (TAP) fish hatchery located along Kane Run.

“We had a lot of cooperation from the school,” Beck said. “A lot of the kids were glad to get outside to get some fresh air and exercise outside. They got community service hours for it too.”

Beck also gives out an environmental award each year, where he tells the students the impact they have made through their efforts. While each student may only spend an hour or two volunteering, their small efforts add up.

Beck said the students’ volunteer hours, as well as volunteer efforts from Portage Borough, Portage Township and other municipal agencies, help local groups like TAP and the Trout Run Watershed Association obtain grants to improve the local environment.

“If I look at the big picture and add up everybody’s hours, it comes to over 1,000 hours of volunteer help to clean up the community,” Beck said.

“The grantees love that,” he continued. “They love to see the communities involved.”

Beck explained that through these efforts, the Trout Run Watershed Association was able to obtain $538,000 in grant funding to expand and redesign the Trout Run acid mine treatment system located in the Puritan neighborhood of the township.

The group was awarded the grant in 2017, and the expansion has been online for about two years. This expansion has reduced the pH of the water to allow for native species to thrive.

Beck has also been hosting can drives over the past year to raise money for good causes. Beck’s daughter, Kristie, volunteered with the World Central Kitchen in Poland assisting Ukrainian refugees. Upon hearing her stories, Beck wanted to do his part by collecting cans to cash in for money.

In his first collection, he donated $5,000 to the Knights of Columbus in Ukraine. The second collection netted $2,000 to the World Central Kitchen’s efforts in Ukraine. Since then, his collections turned toward the local community. He raised $250 for the Portage Food Pantry and is now collecting for the Portage Public Library.

So far, Beck has over 17,000 cans at his house that are kept out of the trash and being used toward charity.

“So it’s a good start for the collection,” Beck said.

But while Earth Day may have passed, there are still opportunities to help out in the community. For example, volunteers with the Cresson American Legion are holding a highway cleanup this Saturday.

Legion commander Scott Eberhart said the volunteers plan to clean up two sections along Route 53 on each side of town.

According to Eberhart, the Legion has been helping with the annual cleanup for the past 30 years, and about 20 to 30 people volunteer each year.

He said even though volunteers work hard and over the years have found a plethora of items trashed along the highway, it’s still an enjoyable experience for all involved.

“The participants enjoy it,” Eberhart said.

“And the public likes it,” he said. “It’s a good thing.”