Students to clean up Nezinscot River

BUCKFIELD — A hunter's idea has led to a plan for a group of high school seniors to clean up a stretch of the Nezinscot River.

Students from Buckfield Junior Senior High School will be asked to participate in what organizers hope will be the first of many annual trash removal efforts.

Town Manager Glen Holmes told the board of selectmen that the idea had been suggested by resident Tony Bachelder.

"Mr. Bachelder brought up the idea after his hunting excursion down in the swamp to do some cleanup there," said Holmes. "I spoke to the principal at the high school and asked about the possibility of the seniors who are required to do community service to participate in something like that."

The cleanup is scheduled for April 15.

Holmes said that the town's road crew would be on hand to haul junk, and that he hoped some scouting organizations would also become involved with the effort.

"There was tires everywhere, junk and everything, so we thought it would be a good place to start," said Holmes.

Holmes said that he hoped the effort would cover the stretch of the river from the dam to the mall. "I'm not sure if they would get that far in the first year," said Holmes.

One resident expressed concern about water temperatures, which are likely to be frigid in mid-April.

"Anybody that's really wanting to get much clean, in terms of the tires, they're really going to be submerged a good part of the time in the water, so I wonder if April 15 is going to be warm enough," he said.

The board suggested that the date might be changed in subsequent years, and resolved to "play it by ear."

"It might be more land stuff this trip," said Chair John Lowell.