Final river cleanup successful

The final river cleanup effort of the season by the St. Joseph County Conservation District was hailed a success by its organizers.
Staged Saturday on a 2 1/2-mile stretch of the St. Joseph River between M-66 and the old Railroad Street bridge in Mendon, the cleanup drew 20 participants in 17 boats. Conservation District Board member John Nelson said volunteers pulled a large number of tires and a considerable amount of debris from the water.
Lunch was provided for the volunteers at Gibby’s, sponsored by Kalamazoo-based Terra Contracting Services.
The cleanup was the sixth of the summer and concludes the fifth season of the agency’s efforts to clean all 150 miles of debris from St. Joseph County’s rivers.