17th
Annual Canoe & Clean-up Trip, May 7-8, 2005
"Paddle Your Park" ViewPictures from 2004
Ready/Set/Canoe: Who says you
need a road to take a road trip? 
Swatara Creek Sojourn Watershed Weekly coverage Movie Clips from the 17th Swatara Sojourn (2005)
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Swatara Sojourn participation update--89 people on the water Saturday and 53 people on the water Sunday,
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I just wanted to say thank you to all who helped with the Sojourn. It was very well organized, run smoothly and the food and company was great. We were glad to be a part of it. Look forward to helping and participating in next years Sojourn as well. Enjoy the day, Mike Carter
I wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know I had a wonderful time on the Swattie on Saturday. It's great to see so many people of all ages rally around cleaning up our local waterways. I'm always amazed at some of the items participants manage to fit into their canoes! Joi Corrado
What a great and gracious group of participants we had this year. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, pitched in. Some people picked up trash and some people provided assistance to fellow canoeists. Other people helped on shore. Carol, who normally paddles, said, "I think I worked harder on shore than I did when I canoed." Can you imagine that? I'm sure that Liz and Andy can't. It does make us really appreciate people like Tom and Jack, Dick, Laurie, and everyone else who helped on shore. And the community support that we had this year was overwhelming too. We must have increased our donors by ten new sponsors. The point is, the Swatara Sojourn is a real team effort. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you guys! Jo Ellen
Dozens of volunteer shore support staff from the
1. Lebanon County League of Women Voters,
2. Sunset Lions Club,
3. Izaak Walton League,
4. Ono Fire Company,
5.
Swatara State Park Rangers,
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Ready/Set/Fish (There is no such thing as a fisherboy. Catch one, and you're a fisherman.) |
6. Army National Guard,
7. Kyle & Tammy Boltz at Lickdale Campgrounds,
8. Rick & Julie Bleisath at Swatara Creek Family Restaurant,
9. Swatara Creek Watershed Association members—Tom, Dick, George, Betty--and
10. my family—Laurie, Craig, Ella & Spencer, Carol & Colton.
11. Elected officials who helped us kick-off the event: Representative Peter Zug and Representative Mauree Gingrich presented certificates as well as a proclamation from Lebanon County Commissioners Bill Carpenter, Larry Stohler, and Jo Ellen Litz. In addition, City Councilman Richard Wertz joined the Sojourn--paddling and picking up trash I might add--on Sunday.
On Saturday, approximately seven miles of the float trip took place within Swatara State Park.
Unusual items collected:
 | skeleton--full-sized, but the neon plastic kind that you see at Halloween |
| a womans purse with a wallet full of credit cards & a current drivers license among other items (and mud). |
| 80 lb. roll of fiberglass insulation. It would have weighed a pound, if it wasn't in the creek! |
| Little Tykes Flinstonemobile--recycled |
| bicycle |
| gas tank |
| doll house |
| tractor trailer air brake |
| zillions of tires--recycled by Simon Kettering. OK, maybe not zillions, but 131 tires. |
| zillions of pieces of foam blocks |
| 55 gallon drum |
| balls |
| surf board—recycled |
| child's Plastic Pool-purple |
| full-sized front door |
| safety sign/trestle |
| box spring |
| foam life preserver ring |
Our Safety team was superb. Andy and Liz Ramsey, Ron Boyer, Tim Lehman, Joe Sabnosky, Dave & Sharon Murphy, and Joe Sieck all pitched in to assist Jo Ellen Litz and the Swatara Creek Watershed Association to make the weekend memorable for everyone.
Entertainment by the Crick Pickers who not only played the Swatara Song, but included it on their new CD. They are now known as the Down To Earth Band, and they were fabulous. For CD purchase information, contact downtoearthband@hotmail.com .
We ate good. Food was both tasty and abundant:
¨ Lebanon Tourist Promotion agency sponsored Saturday breakfast of doughnuts, bananas, and yogurt;
¨ Izaak Walton League sponsored chicken noodle soup, sandwiches, fruit cup, and homemade cookies;
¨ Chicken barbq and ice cream at Lickdale Camp Grounds;
¨
Scrambled
eggs, hash browns, sausage and bacon at Swatara Creek Family Restaurant;
¨ Subs, oranges, and granola bars with the Ono Fire Company; and
¨ For those who pulled in at dinner time, pizza at Pizzatown to end the weekend.
Of course more 'dirty work' came the next few days--removal of tons of collected trash by Swatara State Park rangers, the Army National Guard, and Weidle Sanitation. Tires will be recycled at Kettering's and trash will be accepted by the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority.
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| Supporting organizations include
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