Volunteers along the Westfield River and its streams will celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 27 by cleaning up the banks of the Westfield River watershed. According to Mark Damon, coordinator for the Westfield River Watershed Association (WRWA), people can just show up at one of the gathering sites to participate in the morning’s cleanup.

WRWA encourages people to come and join them for the morning on Saturday, April 27. Volunteers for the Spring 2019 Westfield River cleanup will gather at one of two locations by 9:00 a.m., meeting in Westfield in the public parking lot at the end of Meadow Street near the green bridge or in Agawam at the Pynchon Point parking lot near the South End bridge circle on River Road. WRWA will distribute gloves and trash bags and offer safety tips, then send off site teams. Note that most of the cleanup is done from shore—no river wading needed! Organizers target watershed sites in Westfield, Russell, Huntington, West Springfield and Agawam. Assignments are generally completed by 1:00 pm or earlier.

Everyone is welcome; children must be supervised by an adult. WRWA will arrange with local communities for pickup of trash and debris recovered at each site. For questions, contact Mark Damon regarding Westfield locations at 413-977-1577, [email protected] or Sheryl Becker for Agawam area sites at 413-374-1921, [email protected].

The Westfield River Watershed Association was established in 1953 to protect and improve the natural resources of the watershed, as well as to expand recreational and other land use opportunities for people’s enjoyment and for sound ecology. To learn more, visit www.westfieldriver.org or visit our Westfield River Facebook page.