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WEST GREENWICH ANNUAL EARTHDAY CLEANUP A HUGE SUCCESS

Over 150 volunteers of all ages assembled at 8 am to tackle an enormous clean up project in the Big River and Lake Mishnock area.

After sign up conducted by Dan and Gail Novak, five teams led by Bob Zulegar, Peter Gengler, Joe Unsworth, Dan Novak, and Dan Albro led their respective teams to locations in the Big River area along Division road, Route 3, and Lake Mishnock in West Greenwich.

Over 9 huge dumpsters were filled with every conceivable type of trash from tires to bedsprings. A boat and antique bath tub were among the "treasures" collected and disposed of.

At noon all volunteers gathered at the Big River Inn where prizes were raffled off and lunch was served.

Mary Kaltschnee stated that she was "amazed that so many people worked so hard and gave up their time again this year to make the environment a better place to live"

This 12th annual earth day cleanup event was sponsored by the West Greenwich Conservation Commission, Lake Mishnock Preservation Association, New England Mountain Bikers Association, Amgen and the Rhode Island Water Resources Board.

Grassroots fundraiser nets $3,000 for Lake Mishnock Preservation

WEST GREENWICH – Over 300 residents of West Greenwich, Coventry and surrounding towns took time from their busy schedules last Sunday to help in the efforts to preserve Lake Mishnock. Their motto? “It’s all about the lake.”
The Lake Mishnock Preservation Association’s (LMPA) Fourth annual Pasta Dinner fund raising event was held at the Lake Mishnock Barn last Sunday, which gave participants an opportunity to aid in the continued success of the young organization.
Roughly 300 people came out to show their support, despite the cool threatening weather conditions, according to LMPA President Dan Albro. “We had very good turnout and everyone had a fun time,” said Albro. “It was a huge success,” said Paul Kaltschnee, Director and Membership Chairman of the association.

Retired Town Council Vice President Robert Meehan and his family,owners of the former Robins Nest restaurant, prepared the meal alongside the Coventry-West Greenwich Lions Club. The joint effort of those involved served up a delicious family style all you could eat pasta, meatball, salad, bread, and butter meal with deserts too numerous to mention. Free country line dancing followed the dinner to help burn off the calories of a hearty meal.

The LMPA is a non-profit organization formed by local residents in March of 2005 to address the deteriorating condition of Lake Mishnock and its surrounding ecosystem.
Lake Mishnock has been an important part of the heritage of West Greenwich for generations, but now the lake is being polluted by the rapid growth of invasive weeds, lily pads, and is also being threatened by runoff from local roads and Route 95. As a result, portions of the lake have been unusable for boating, swimming, or fishing.
Responding to the Lake Mishnock crisis, local citizens formed the LMPA just over 3 years ago and began investigating ways to restore the lake back to its original condition.“This is a grassroots organization that rolled up its sleeves and really
did its homework,” said state Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan (D-Dist.29). “The members researched the issue, consulted with university officials, and did everything possible to educate themselves about their options.” The LMPA decided to apply aquatic herbicides to eradicate the milfoil. The Department of Environmental Management approved all treatments and all appropriate steps were taken to ensure application in an environmentally safe manner. The results have been spectacular.“You should see the lake now,” Sullivan continued, “the difference is like night and day. They deserve all the credit. It's a great story.”

“The neighborhood has really come together a lot around the lake,” agreed Albro. “The mission of our association is to restore the lake to its original pristine condition and preserve it for future generations to enjoy.” Public information and educational workshops will continue to be a part of the association’s membership meetings that are open to the general public. A presentation on septic tank and wastewater management was given by Gorge Loomis and Holly Meehan from the University of Rhode Island (URI); a phosphate management workshop lead by Professor Jose Amadore (URI); and a Healthy Landscapes program was presented by URI Master Gardeners Beverly O’Keefe and Steven Haunschild at recent annual meetings. A committee headed by Board Director Diane Blaquiere is currently addressing the drainage and road runoff affecting the lake. Directors Ken St. Onge and John Berchem as well as association Vice President Ken Brown are increasing the water testing of the lake as part of the URI Watershed Watch program to identify possible contamination sources.“We have come a long way in a short period of time”, said Kaltschnee. “We now have 75 members and 29 individual donors for a total of 104 individual supporters of the association plus three beach association donors.” The state and the town of West Greenwich have also given the LMPA grants in order to further the association’s efforts.

Interested parties can visit the LMPA website at www.lakemishnock.org for additional information on the organization.