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Photo caption: Six-year-old Johnny Montana at the Westfall clean-up by the Matamoras Boat Launch on April 24.

NARROWSBURG – Nearly 350 volunteers joined the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) starting on Earth Day to avenge the careless dumping of trash that impairs public lands and roadsides surrounding the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

The 2nd Annual Upper Delaware Litter Sweep officially lasted from April 22-30 but its inspiration carries on with UDC Litter Clean-up Kits available to borrow year-round.

Twenty clean-ups were organized throughout 15 NY towns and PA townships paralleling the river. The total amount of waste removed from parks, public access areas, streets, and highways is still being tallied.

Volunteers were easy to spot in their neon-colored t-shirts featuring the fierce eagle logo created by Happy Tattoo’s Dan Nelson on the front and the names of 37 sponsors on the back who contributed $6,250 to make the Litter Sweep possible.

Also critical to the event’s success were Litter Leaders who stepped forward for each town and township to assist with volunteer outreach, promotion, registration, distribution of supplies, safety briefings, and arranging for disposal of the gathered junk.

Designated “Litter Leaders” and their affiliations were:

Town of Hancock, NY – Richard Lowe III (Hancock Chamber of Commerce)
Buckingham Township, PA – Ashley Hall-Bagdonas (Upper Delaware Council secretary and 2022 Litter Sweep coordinator)
Town of Fremont, NY – Kate Sykes Bowers (Basket Creek area resident)
Manchester Township, PA – Kate Waldrep (Camp IHC)
Town of Delaware, NY – Tanyia Vannatta & Zach Scheitlin (Callicoon Business Association)
Damascus Township, PA – Jessica Weinman & Don Hamilton (National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River)
Town of Cochecton, NY – Larry H. Richardson (UDC Representative)
Berlin Township, PA – Al Henry (UDC Representative); and Sarah Hall-Bagdonas (In Memory of Sean Davis)
Town of Tusten, NY – Evan & Cherene Padua (Sweetwater Guide Service and Evan-UDC Alternate); and Wanda Gangel (Narrowsburg Beautification Group)
Lackawaxen Township, PA – Jeff Thompson (Growing Lackawaxen)
Town of Highland, NY – Andy Boyar (UDC Representative), John Pizzolato (Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce), & Frank Guzman (Living in Barryville NY Facebook Group)
Shohola Township, PA – Kerry Engelhardt (UDC Resources & Land Use Specialist)
Town of Lumberland, NY – Nadia Rajsz (Sullivan County Legislator and UDC Representative); and Shannon Cilento (Sullivan Renaissance)
Town of Deerpark, NY – Ginny & Bill Dudko (UDC Representative and Alternate)
Westfall Township, PA – Bethany Montana & six-year-old Junior NPS Ranger Johnny Montana (Milford residents)

The Upper Delaware Council is grateful to all of the Litter Leaders, volunteers, and previously-acknowledged sponsors for their outstanding efforts.

To see photos and coverage of the 2022 Upper Delaware Litter Sweep, please visit www.facebook.com/UpperDelawareCouncil, Instagram @upperdelawarecouncil or Twitter @UpperDelCouncil. Litter Clean-up Kits, introduced in 2021 thanks to a Sullivan Renaissance Healthy Community Initiatives Grant, may be reserved by calling (845) 252-3022, emailing info@upperdelawarecouncil.org, or stopping by the UDC office at 211 Bridge St., Narrowsburg.

The mission of the UDC is to conserve, enhance and promote the Delaware River corridor’s natural and cultural resources and social and economic vitality, by fostering cooperation among public and private partners, to implement the River Management Plan.