Council Praises Rumson Girl Scouts for West Park Clean-Up

Rumson Girl Scout Troops 1595 and 1285 were honored at the Rumson Council meeting on Tuesday, June 24th, for volunteering to clean-up litter at West Park last month. Girl Scouts Brooke Kearney and sisters Katie and Julia Amendola were accompanied by one of the troop leaders, Elizabeth Trapp, as Rumson Recreation Chairman John Lembeck praised the scouts during the public session of the Council meeting for caring about their community
 
Addressing Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl and the Rumson Council, Lembeck announced that the girls had removed garbage from West Park in the area of the park surrounding the Sea Bright Bridge, where drifting garbage is carried by the water and tends to become snagged in the reeds that grow there.  Lembeck explained that although the garbage cannot be seen from the road, the litter still accumulates heavily by the bridge after being carried in by the currents, and there can be quite a bit of litter that needs to be cleaned up. Lembeck said that Rumson depends on people in the community to help keep their town clean, and that the Girl Scouts embodied the best qualities of Rumson residents by volunteering their time to keep the town's beautiful parks clean.

"The best parts of being in the Recreation Commission are the children, the people, the parks, and the enjoyment of Rumson," Lembeck said. "These girls did an incredible job of being a part of their community and volunteering to clean the park."

Lembeck explained how Troop Leader Sharon Greener, who is also a member of the Recreation Commission, had volunteered the scouts for the park clean-up while attending the Recreation Commission meeting last month. The following weekend Troop Leaders Greener and Trapp, as well as fellow leaders Arlene Mulligan, and Millis Looney, led Girl Scouts Katie and Julia Amendola, Brooke Kearney, Maggie Looney, Maya Wall-Esteves, and Ryanne Mulligan to West Park for the clean-up. Trapp also said they had a "valuable assist" by Morgan Mulligan, who is not in the Girl Scouts, joined her sister Ryanne to take part in the effort.

The girls began at 8:30 in the morning, and by noon, Lembeck had arrived to haul the collected garbage to the dump. In just four short hours, the girls had filled over 25 "very heavy, wet" bags of garbage, and that the area of West Park that they were cleaning by the bridge looked "fantastic" when he arrived to remove the collected bags. Lembeck added that the girls also filled two truck loads with wood and various debris that is still drifting in from Superstorm Sandy two years ago.

Lembeck further praised the Girl Scouts by reminding the Council that the troops had also volunteered for garbage pick-up at Meadow Ridge Park last year, at which time they had removed over 30 bags of litter and a few truck loads of wood debris.

Mayor Ekdahl thanked the Girl Scouts on behalf of the city of Rumson and the Rumson Coucil, and was happy to oblige a request by Trapp to pose for pictures with the three Girl Scouts in attendance at the Tuesday night meeting. He stated that "although the Department of Public Works does a great job on keeping Rumson clean, they have large projects and regular cleaning schedules to adhere to, and so Rumson depends on the efforts of volunteers like the Girl Scouts to help in other areas."

Speaking on behalf of the Girl Scout Troops, Trapp said that the girls volunteered last year for the Meadow Ridge clean-up, and were happy to use their free time on the weekend to volunteer again this year.

"The Girl Scouts are always trying to look out for their community in Rumson, and to be helpful or provide a service, even though they are all super busy this time of year," Trapp said. "When the girls volunteered, we knew we had to jump on it and get the garbage and debris before the reeds grow taller, trapping more litter. We knew it was going to be a big job, but we didn't expect how much the girls ended up collecting. They truly did a great job for their town."