On January 31, 2009, members of the OBRHS and the public used kayaks, canoes and power boats to conduct the first cleanup of the Braden River between SR 70 and the Manatee River. Through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Bob King and their family the event was staged from King Ranch Manatee. More than 40 people, including children, donned life vests and clutched paddles to seek trash in the river. Many of the folks had participated in previous river cleanups but some were doing it for the first time after reading about the event in the Bradenton Herald. After all the trash was off-loaded and everyone was back safely, we all enjoyed hot dogs, baked beans, chips, and cold drinks. Later, the trash-seekers voted on the most unusual item recovered from the river. It was unanimous; Emma and Matthew King won for the "smiley face" volley ball they found. Their prize was a beautiful framed picture of a limpkin, a native bird that inhabits the river. One thousand eight hundred fifty five (1,855) pounds of trash, including truck and automobile tires were recovered and hauled to the county landfill.
An osprey (Pandion haliatus) finishes his meal on a pine bough over the Braden River (T. Longpre)
Bob King (cowboy hat) and others enjoy hot dogs and all the fixins' (B. Halstead)
Canoes and kayaks await the trash-seekers on the bank of the Braden River (T. Longpre)
Denise Kleiner begins her paddle downstream on the trash hunt (L. Dengler)
Denise, Angie, and Sandra handled the registration table for the river cleanup (B. Halstead)
Jean Miller and Lynn Dallesandro bring in a canoe full of trash collected in the river. (B. Halstead)
Joe, Matthew, Emma, Will, and Sarah King are ready for the river cleanup (B. Halstead)
Lynn Dallesandro rests on the lawn while eating lunch at King Ranch Manatee (L. Dengler)
Maddy Freshwater joined the cleanup effort after reading about it in the Bradenton Herald (L. Dengler)
Paddlers belly-up to the hot dogs, baked beans, chips, and cold drinks after the cleanup (L. Dengler)
Seven of the tires that were recovered form the Braden River (B. Halstead)
Some items recovered from the river just wouldn't fit in a kayak (L. Dengler)
Some of the trash, including many tires, recovered from the river (L. Dengler)
Trash-seekers Marti King (left) and Susan King come in with a load including tires and an abandoned crab trap (T. Longpre)
Trash-seekers vote on the most unusual item recovered from the river (B. Halstead)
It takes two hands for Charlie Hunsicker to control his hot dog (L. Dengler)
Bob King talks with Sandra Gardner and others at the King Ranch Manatee where the cleanup was staged (T. Longpre)
Captain Rick Correa (right) paddles his canoe while Lady Lydia the Wonder Dog navigates (B. Halstead)