Great Wilderness Clean-up this Mother’s Day weekend – honest mom!
The Great Wilderness Clean-up is still on for this coming Mother’s Day weekend (even if my Mother thinks it’s a scam to get out of visiting her).
Nancy, the creator of the event, has taken a break for this year but hopefully will be back in 2011. But lots and lots of volunteers have stepped in to fill the gap. We have paddlers across the globe — from the U.K to Brazil. That’s cool! Clean-ups are being completed on canoe routes, portages, campsites, campgrounds, access points, backpacking and hiking trails, etc…just about anywhere that people go to enjoy the wilderness.
This thing all started in a canoeing discussion forum. Bryan March posted a message and photos showing garbage they found in one of Ontario’s Provincial Parks. Nancy Maddock started discussing her feelings about trash in the wilderness and mentioned that there should be a clean-up. Next thing she knew someone had suggested that she organize an event. So she did!
Nancy’s first clean-up event was in Algonquin Provincial Park in May of 2006. Over a hundred bags of garbage were removed from the park’s interior making the clean-up a great success. 2007 brought about many changes to the clean-up. Kevin Callan has joined forces with Nancy and they have made this an international event.
Nancy has dedicated this event to her father’s memory, William Maddock, a man who had a passion for life and adventure, and a great love for the beauty of our Mother Earth.
I’ll be in the Kawarthas organizing the clean-up there. A couple of the best deals to connect with though are the Wolf Den in Algonquin Park. They’ve partnered with Algonquin Outfitters and will once again be forming The Wolf Pack to beautify interior sites in Algonquin Park. Participants will receive free day passes from Algonquin Park, free canoe rentals from Algonquin Outfitters, and ½ price accommodation from the Wolf Den. The event will begin on Friday night with organizing into groups and the distribution of gloves and bags. They will clean up all day Saturday, returning to the Wolf Den for a potluck supper and prizes provided by Algonquin Outfitters.
This entire event is fun, social and extremely successful. Please help us out.
