Part of the mission of Galloway Village Neighborhood Association is preserving the area’s natural qualities. Adopting Galloway Creek was a “natural” fit for the association. Since 2019, neighbors have gathered in Sequiota Park three times a year with gloves and grabbers and headed out to fill as many big yellow bags as possible. Some head up to the corner of Battlefield and Lone Pine where litter from the road and parking lots accumulates on the trail and in the skinny line of vegetation along the creek. Others head deep into the creek channel where litter washed in from as far north as Sunshine and west to Glenstone gets hung up on every tree root and limb. The park itself needs attention too, with little bits of trash from park users accumulating around its edges and green spaces.
One usually doesn’t have to take too many steps in any direction to start filling a bag with food wrappers, cups, straws, and plastic bags. You’ll never look at these plastic items, used a single time and discarded, the same way again after picking them out of every nook and cranny of the creek. If let be, they will eventually find their way downstream into Lake Springfield or maybe farther into the James River and Table Rock Lake. Scientists are finding microplastics, tiny pieces of broken-down plastic, in the world’s rivers and oceans everywhere these days.
Littering is an unfortunate reality, but a small commitment of time can make quick work of this unsightly problem. Over the past four years, Galloway neighbors have contributed 200 volunteer hours and picked up 150 bags of trash from the creek, trail, and park. It’s fulfilling to leave things cleaner than you found them and a great excuse to enjoy and explore our natural areas. An old sketch from the 1930s of the historic Half-A-Hill dance hall and property at Battlefield and Lone Pine labeled the creek “safe” at the north end near the road and “mysterious but interesting” farther south where the channel is deep and filled with tall pillars of bedrock. The creek is still a mysterious and interesting place today and worth a hike in your muck boots. For those who want to stay on more stable ground, cleaning up the trail and park will give you a fresh perspective on these familiar places and you are sure to receive a few smiles and words of appreciation from passersby. At the end of a cleanup, there is always some lively conversation about the strangest or biggest finds of the day.
Come join us for our 2023 cleanups on March 25, June 10, and Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. at Sequiota Park. If you can’t make it, take a few minutes of time on your own to clean up your street or pick up litter on your daily walks. Every little bit helps to keep our village clean.