Source: The Marysville Globe Guest Opinion by Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring
As many community members are already aware, the City and a multitude of enthusiastic, civic-minded volunteers are readying for our 2nd Annual Marysville Community Clean Sweep Week.
Clean Sweep is our weeklong blitz of free activities aimed at joining with neighborhoods, businesses and residents to get our collective spring cleaning off on the right foot, and hopefully inspire others along the way toward making Marysville a safer, attractive and more livable community.
Neighborhood Clean Sweeps, painting over graffiti, Adopt-a-Street litter control pickup, the Shred-a-Thon and PC recycling are just some of the free activities that will make for a busy week around Marysville’s streets and neighborhoods.
One free activity during Clean Sweep Week that can sometimes get overlooked is the annual Earth Day Celebration hosted and sponsored by the Allen/Quilceda Watershed (A/QWA) Team. That’s only because while most other activities are happening along busy streets or urban areas, the A/QWA Team’s popular native tree and shrub planting projects happen off the beaten path.
The Earth Day Celebration is an integral part of Clean Sweep Week, a testament to the importance we and all the Earth Day participating agencies place on preserving and protecting clean water and a healthy watershed. It’s no coincidence that it falls during Clean Sweep Week.
I invite you to come out and help at this year’s Earth Day Celebration, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 20 at the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project Site in Harborview Park, 4700 60th Ave. NE, in Marysville.
The A/QWA Team chose the location to raise awareness about the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project, which is lead by the Tulalip Tribes and includes various federal, state and local governments and agencies.
The Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project is a critical restoration project that will restore tidal influence to nearly 400 acres at the mouth of Allen and Jones Creeks. The event will include educationally focused booths, interpretive trail walks, face painting and a service activity.
The first 200 participants will get a free Earth Day T-shirt that can be stamped with all the parts of a healthy watershed at each of the booths. Participants will leave the event with a greater understanding of the elements within a healthy watershed and actions that they can take to improve our local watersheds. The service activity allows participants to get their hands dirty and implement a lasting beneficial change in the watershed.
This year participants will plant a native tree or shrub along the edge of the Qwuloolt Estuary restoration project and spread mulch to nourish new plants and suppress weeds. This is a fun, healthy way to do something good for the environment – if you don’t mind getting a little grubby.
To sign up, or for more information, contact Erin Martin at (425) 388-3463 Ext. 4661 or Erin.Martin@snoco.org.
The A/QWA Team is a diverse community group working together to implement the Quilceda/Allen Watershed Management Plan and to improve the overall water quality of streams in the Allen/Quilceda Watershed. The A/QWA Team community partnership is just one of the many important coordinating groups that accomplish the City mission:
“to provide quality, innovative and efficient municipal services which promote economic growth, thriving neighborhoods, healthful living and financial sustainability for our residents and businesses.”
The A/QWA Team provides education and outreach opportunities to the community and improvements the environment by actively working in Marysville and the greater Allen/Quilceda watershed. The Team is comprised of representatives from Adopt-a-Stream, City of Arlington, City of Marysville, Marysville School District, Snohomish County Conservation District, Snohomish County Surface Water Management (SWM), Sound Salmon Solutions, Tulalip Tribes, Washington State Department of Ecology and local residents.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to get of the house and give back to our natural environment by volunteering or simply celebrating.