Keeping Delaware’s Beaches Clean

In the early spring we organized weekly beach clean ups and the turnout was great.  Every Saturday or Sunday for two months we would get a variety of volunteers to help clean the beaches.  All of the trash we removed was washed up on our beaches and not from the influx of tourists every year.  We will resume these cleanups after the summer season has ended.  It is much easier for people to get around in the off season.  Many people I know will clean up the beach area they are near when they are surf fishing.  I also hope we have inspired others o do the same.  That is the reason for this story, to congratulate one young lady who has taken those weekly clean ups to the next level.  Every weekend they could make it out, the Tkachuk  family would  help scour the beaches for trash.  There were a lot of kids that would come out and help, but I never expected these clean ups to inspire one to take that even further.     This is Cierra Tkachuk, and now when she goes surf fishing with her parents and sister she makes it a point to clean up trash.

One day when we were cleaning Beach Plum Island she came running back to the group and said she found a boat.  We all figured it was a little toy boat, but it turns out it was a partial hull from an old fiberglass boat.   Alex, her dad, had to hook it up to the tow rope to drag it off the beach.  Cierra was so proud of her find she rode the boat off the beach.  Chrissie, her mom, sent me some pictures the other day and this story … “I have to share this story… This spring we did several beach clean ups with DSF. Ever since then my 8yr old makes it her mission to clean up whatever beach we end up on.  EVERY TIME!  Tonight we worked for about an hour and collected 6 shoes, a bathing suit, several bait containers, broken toys, about a dozen Mylar balloons, a cooler lid, among lots of other’s “trash” Here is her “take” from today…She makes me very proud!!  “

We are very proud that Cierra has taken it upon herself to keep the beaches clean anytime she is out there.  I fish with the family as often as I can and we always grab trash.  I had no idea Cierra had taken keeping the beaches clean to heart and that is inspirational.  Wouldn’t it be great if others would follow her example.  One of the reasons we stopped doing the clean ups during the summer is the fact the beaches get very crowded on a weekend and it makes collecting more difficult.  However, if you feel so motivated to help out, this Saturday the Delaware Surf Reports crew is going to host a beach clean up … ” We will meet at the North Jetty parking lot at Indian River Inlet at 8:30 AM. The cleanup will start at the rocks and we will push north towards Dewey (only as far as we are comfortable.) I hope to see you out there! Please share this with your friends! “

Big thanks to Cierra Tkachuk for taking our weekly beach clean ups to another level.  It is a true inspiration to see kids taking an interest in helping the environment.  We are very proud it helped inspire her motivation.  We hope to see you out there Saturday and at future weekly clean ups in the off season.

Fish On!!

Rich King