Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) is inviting locals from across the Island to clean the beaches in all six towns this Saturday for its 33rd annual Beach Day Cleanup.
From 10 am to noon, volunteers will be set up at nearly every beach on the Island to pass out gloves and bags to attendees.
“If you’re a first-timer, don’t worry, it couldn’t be easier to participate in this Island tradition,” VCS said in a statement. Other groups sponsoring the event include the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the Trustees, the Martha’s Vineyard Bank, and the West Tisbury Congregational Church, among others.
In addition to cleaning up, locals are encouraged to bring the “coolest, craziest, most unusual” things they find on the beach to the afterparty at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum to enter a sponsored contest, according to a recent press release.
Signe Benjamin, director of membership and program development at VCS, said last years’ standout found items were a weathered pocket watch that resembled a clam shell, an old pair of binoculars, and a message in a bottle that swept up on our shores from Nantucket.
“I’m not sure if we were their intended target,” she said with a laugh, but added that it was exciting to find a bottled message, even from a short distance.
After getting their hands (or their gloves) dirty, Vineyarders can kick back at the museum for the third annual Earth Day Festival, featuring games and activities with 20 local conservation groups.
“The Earth Day Festival is a chance to connect with the natural world and the incredible organizations working every day to protect our Island,” Heather Seger, executive director of the museum, said in a press release.
The festival will feature prizes for the winners of the trash contest and food and drinks for purchase — or free for everyone who participated in the cleanup — if they remember to grab a lunch ticket from the volunteers at the beaches.
“[The beach cleanup] is just this celebration of spring, and this unifying, fun event for locals to look forward to and feel good about. So, yeah, we’re excited,” Benjamin said.
