Martha’s Vineyard beaches get 20th annual cleanup

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Cubmaster Ewell Hopkins, Scout master Sterling Bishop (rear), along with Joey Cywinski (front), William Hermann and Kai Rose (right)--all Webelos from Den 3, Pack 90, picked up along State Beach. — Photo by Ralph Stewart

A couch found on Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark and three microwave ovens and a credit card picked up at Lake Tashmoo in Vineyard Haven were some of the more unusual pieces of beach trash volunteers picked up at the 20th annual Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) sponsored Earth Day beach cleanup last Saturday. The cleanup, from 10 am to 12 noon, attracted volunteers to over 25 Island beaches on the warm, bright sunny day.

The VCS provided bags and gloves and arranged for the pickup and disposal of the collected detritus. According to VCS board member and fisherman Dave Nash of Edgartown, The Flatbread Company donated and delivered more than 100 pizzas from Vermont for the post cleanup party at the Tisbury Wharf. The Charter School kitchen ovens were used to bake the frozen pizza. Cronig’s donated beverages and the Scottish Bakehouse sweets.

Mr. Nash said the event had the largest number of sponsors ever and “from all reports there was a great turnout. There were more than 275 volunteers. People were very generous this year.”