Rainbow River cleanup draws crowd

MSCO dive team members, Cpl. Jason Heinrich, Cpl. John Petit, Sgt. Todd Winkler and Deputy Joseph Spratlin, with boat operator Cpl. Robert McClure, dredged up about 100 pounds of trash from the Rainbow River during the May 18 cleanup event, including a battery weighted down by anchors. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]

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Posted May 21, 2024 | By Andy Fillmore, andy@ocalagazette.com

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office dive team gave an electrifying performance at the 40th annual Rainbow River Cleanup held May 18 in Dunnellon.

Sgt. Todd Winkler said the team of seven divers and a boat operator dredged up an estimated 100 pounds of junk and trash, including an oar and cans, during 3 1/2 hours in the water. The team also snagged this year’s award for removing the “Most Harmful” item from the river: a full-size car battery.

Winkler said he saw fewer disposable cups, cans and bottles on the river than in prior years. He credits the reduction to a county ordinance against having those types of containers on the water.

“I feel the enforcement is working,” he said.

The annual cleaning of a portion of the Rainbow River south of Maron County’s KP Hole Park is held by Rainbow River Conservation, an advocacy and watchdog nonprofit focused on protecting the river and the surrounding ecology.

According to its website, the volunteer group was established in 1962 and sponsorships include the annual cleanup and wood duck nesting boxes.

The organization “has helped to obtain and administer grants to purchase and develop Dunnellon’s Blue Run Park and a River Restoration Action,” the website states.

Jerry Rogers, president of the board of directors, said the group has hosted the cleanup since 1984 and that about 100 volunteers scoured the river this year,

Bill White, a former Dunnellon mayor, said the cleanup is something that makes people “feel good doing it (and) feel better after it’s done.” He said the event had a “tremendous turnout.”

The county website for KP Hole Park links to a Florida Department of Environmental Protection site that lists the Rainbow River as one of 41 Outstanding Florida Waterways, and also as “special waters,” defined in part as “waters that are of exceptional recreational or ecological significance.”

Marion County Commissioner, Kathy Bryant, on hand for the cleanup, thanked the RRC for hosting the annual event that “promotes conservation, which should be a priority to everyone who uses the Rainbow River.”

Dwight Porter of Dunnellon joined the effort. He found beer cans and a 2-foot by 4-foot wooden post.  He noted efforts by law enforcement to keep debris off the water and said the condition of the area is “much better than years ago.”

In addition to the MCSO dive team, awards also were given to:

• Most Unusual Item: Wheel or pulley, an apparent artifact from phosphate mining, by Michele Blasingame
• Largest item collected: Board with nails, by Art Jones and Paul Grimes
• Grand total collected: Francine Hall, Jackie Hall and Diane Roberts

To learn more about the nonprofit group, the park and the DEP designatioin, go to rainbowriverconservation.org; parks.marionfl.org/i-want-to/visit-kp-hole-park; and floridadep.gov/sites/default/files/OFWfactsheet_09022021_0.pdf