A thousand volunteers tidy up the James

By foot and by boat, nearly a thousand volunteers took to the James River yesterday to tidy up a 70-mile stretch of shoreline.

Among the items collected: 479 bags of trash; 321 bags of recyclables; 150 large or unusual items, including an 8-week-old kitten (later taken to a rescue shelter); and one "LL Cool J at Brown's Island" sticker in pristine condition recovered in Charles City County.

Covering 11 sites in eight localities, the theme of the 10th annual James River Regional Cleanup was "Cleaning Up the Source," a nod to the river's place as the centerpiece of one of Virginia's largest watersheds, including its many tributary creeks and streams.

Much of the litter collected yesterday made its way to the river by way of roadside ditches that feed into streams and eventually the river, said Kim Conley, executive director of the James River Advisory Council.

Abdel Jalil traveled from Fairfax County to Chesterfield County to lend a hand cleaning up the Falling Creek Ironworks site as part of the Virginia Muslim Coalition's group of eight volunteers.

"This is water that people drink across the state, so it's our duty to do some work to keep it clean," he said.

About 60 like-minded volunteers scoured the shores of Falling Creek and its confluence with the James. Richmonder Chris Owens used his kayak to gather trash in and around the water, even managing to fish out a shopping cart.

"I was able to get to some places that would've been difficult on foot," he said. "Being a kayaker, I love the river, and this is just one Saturday morning a year that can really make a difference."

Norma Corbin, the site organizer and vice president of the Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation, said the need there was great.

"We could use twice this many people, but they've done a great job," she said, noting that a greenway project is planned for the area in coming years.

Herbert Joyner and his appropriately named dog, Dingo (an Australian dingo/pit bull mix), also joined in as a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"I was just going to work this morning and I saw the tent set up and said, 'Should I go to work or volunteer?' Aw, heck, I'm going to volunteer and spend the day on the river with the dog,'" said Joyner, a painter by trade.

Fourteen-year-old Jordan Gadson said she helped pull out a couple of tires along with beer cans and takeout boxes.

Asked what brought her out, she explained: "I just don't like the idea of people polluting and stuff. And I heard this was fun, and it is."

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .