By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Delavan Lake Sanitary District is looking for high school students to help clean up debris on Delavan Lake.
District Administrator Jim DeLuca has organized a lake clean-up service project for area students looking to fulfill high school service requirements the week of July 14 and is still looking for volunteers.
“The lake does need a little TLC,” he said. “The debris affects the fishing habitat.”
DeLuca said fishing line and the plastic rings from soda and beer packaging in particular pose hazards to water fowl, turtles, fish and other wildlife.
“We try to help out a little bit,” he said.
DeLuca said the mission of the DLSD is lake management, which includes weed harvesting and monitoring the lake and invasive species. DeLuca said the district is now trying to add litter clean-up to that mission.
DeLuca begins his third year with the DLSD on July 1. Last year he decided to make litter a priority after his daughter Renee, a Badger High School student, asked him if there were any service projects available that she could participate in to complete her senior project requirement at Badger. Having none to offer her, DeLuca looked into the possibility of adding one.
DeLuca said part of the motivation came from his own family’s past practice of picking up litter along highways for 4-H. He thought if it could be done there, why not along a lakeshore?
DeLuca said he talked with some colleagues, then the district commissioners, then the Delavan Town Board. This year’s clean-up effort is tentatively scheduled for the week of July 14, weather permitting. Volunteers will clean up litter around the Delavan Lake shoreline on Monday and Wednesday from about 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Friday morning. DeLuca said volunteers will be treated to a picnic on Friday.
DeLuca said last year some local businesses like Culver’s and McDonald’s donated things like ice cream cones and French fries as an incentive to participate. He also said Lake Lawn Resort provided kayaks the volunteers used to get to the hard- to-reach debris, which can provide some fun kayaking on the way to and from the debris locations.
“We try to have some fun,” DeLuca said, though he said the clean-up effort is a lot of labor.
The clean-up effort will focus on the areas that are traditionally the most difficult to keep clean like the area around Community Park, the Inlet, the Highway 50 and North Shore bridges, and below the dams. DeLuca said people who fish in those areas do not always clean up after themselves.
“If we keep on top of it in those areas, less debris makes it into the lake,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca said two dozen bags of trash were collected last year, which was more than he expected.
DeLuca said six high school students volunteered last year, most from Badger High School. He said he believes Delavan-Darien High School has service requirements as well. So far this year, DeLuca only has three firm commitments. He said he is still looking for volunteers and would be interested in working with anyone interested in helping, not just high school students.
Volunteer duties will focus on litter and debris clean-up but could also include weed harvesting or lake monitoring. Litter and debris collection will be from the surface only. There will be no diving and DLSD staff will handle larger debris like tires, pier sections or benches.
DeLuca said anyone interested in volunteering should contact the DLSD at (262) 728-4100 and leave a message with contact information for him. He can also be contacted via e-mail at jdeluca@dlsd.org. DeLuca is hoping to have his volunteer staff set by July 11 so he can be sure to order enough safety equipment like gloves and grabbers for retrieving sharp objects.
