What do brass knuckles, a boat, and a stuffed dinosaur have in common? They are some of the weirdest coolest things that were pulled out of the creek during this year’s Annual Johnson Creek Clean-up.
On August 17th, 170 volunteers descended on Johnson Creek and its surrounding natural areas to remove 4.9 tons of trash from the creek. Our volunteers were greeted by ducks, crayfish, woodpeckers, ospreys, and herons as they spread out sixteen sites across the watershed, covering over five miles! This year we filled over 300 trash bags and pulled out two shopping carts, six mattresses, thirteen tires, and two toilets.
After spending 2.5 hours in the creek, volunteers met up at Johnson Creek Park to enjoy delicious tamales from Salvador Molly’s and award the Golden Garbage Can Award. This year the award for weirdest coolest thing went to gold glitter disco boogie shoes!
This year we were also able to continue our partnership with GroundScore Association. Folks from GSA canvassed houseless camps along the creek to educate people about the event and to help us engage with all of our creek neighbors. Thank you GSA!
Thank you so much to all of the volunteers that joined us to help make Johnson Creek a better place for everyone.
A big thank you to all the groups that joined us: Portland General Electric, Precision Castparts, Walker Emulsions, Oregon Naturalists, and Boys Team Charity.
Thank you to all our partners and funders: Metro, Clackamas Water Environment Services, Portland Parks $ Recreation, SOLVE, Portland General Electric, GroundScore Association, Junk It, North Clackamas Parks & Recreation, and The Mintkeski Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.
