On April 15, more than 30 volunteers, including staff from the Kiawah Island Community Association, swept the Kiawah Island Parkway, Beachwalker Drive, Night Heron Park and Beachwalker County Park free of trash. Both long-time residents and newcomers were in attendance as well, all of them happy to be doing their part to contribute to the beauty of Kiawah Island. “I’m out here because I want this place to be lovely,” said Blair Torrey, a 13 year resident of Kiawah. “I’m proud of this island.” Paul Mougey, an island resident for seven years, agreed with Torrey. “I came here to help keep a beautiful island thus,” he smiled. Illene Olanoff, who moved to Kiawah Island a little over a month ago, was also thrilled to be participating in the project. “I wanted to get more involved in nature and conservancy, and I wanted to do my part,” she said. Even Kiawah Council members Greg VanDerwerker and Fran Wermuth strapped on their mudding shoes and participated in the cleanup. “When you drive by, it doesn’t look that bad, but there’s a lot of stuff on the ground,” said VanDerwerker as he tugged another abandoned shoe out of the mud – the ninth one he’d found that morning. Volunteer Marilyn Olson was happy to note, however, that it looked like a lot of the people who used the bike path were picking up trash as they went, as there was very little garbage collected on that side of the road. When asked about her participation that day, Olson stated, “I’ve been doing this for years. I support the town and believe in a clean environment.” Click here to visit the Island Connection's web site to view photos from the event.

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