A volunteer takes a breather after the Westfield River Watershed Association cleanup last year. The group, with the help of volunteers, pulled tons of refuse from the river.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo by Heather Aieta
WESTFIELD — The Westfield River Watershed Association will join crews from four states on Saturday, Sept. 19, to clean up discarded trash in the Westfield section of the Connecticut River watershed.
“Our volunteers combine with the Connecticut River Conservancy’s volunteers and many other smaller organizations to clean up the Connecticut River watershed from its source all the way to the sea,” said association President Mark Damon, who is coordinating the cleanup. “Groups like ours take a Saturday morning and use it to make a significant difference in our watershed.”
For 70 years, the association has worked to clean the banks and the waters of the once-polluted Westfield River. The river’s improvement owes much to the association and those who volunteer for this coordinated effort, including volunteers with the Connecticut River Conservancy.
“The Westfield River and its watershed is so much cleaner than it used to be, largely thanks to our volunteers,” Damon said. “There’s still more that we can do, however. Think globally, act locally, here’s your chance.”
Thousands of people live near the Westfield River and can access it for fishing, picnicking, walking, paddling and swimming.
“We’ll have small groups working at different sites along the river. When groups like families or teams volunteer, we keep them together. We’re glad to work with the community to keep it clean and inviting,” said Damon, who teaches at Westfield State University and Holyoke Community College, and invites his students to join in.
“Young adults are especially helpful in providing the muscle that we need to move some of the bigger items we find. Over the years, we have hauled out tires, baby carriages, mattresses, bicycles, appliances. Almost anything can get dumped thoughtlessly — and illegally.”
Sheryl Becker, one of the association’s cleanup coordinators, explained the importance of the effort.
“We definitely make a difference. Decades ago, the river ran pink or yellow or green depending on the color of the dye and chemicals being dumped into it. Now it’s swimmable,” Becker said. “We are always pleased to find that sites we return to are now so clean that it only takes a couple of people an hour or so to pick up the area.”
One type of trash that remains a significant problem is nips, the single-serving liquor bottles not covered by the state’s 5-cent bottle deposit law.
Although made from plastic, nip bottles should not be thrown into recycling bins.
The reason is simple: they are too small. The bottles fall out of the sorting machinery and ultimately end up in a landfill when brought to recycling facilities.
“Now, if we could only get rid of those ‘nips, ’ cleanups would go even more quickly,” Becker said.
She is passionate about keeping the river as clean as possible.
“Our watersheds are critical resources that must be protected and preserved, so we give certain areas along the banks a good cleaning two to three times a year,” she said. “A clean river is critical to biodiversity and clean water. If we don’t keep it clean, no one else will. So please join us and unite with fellow river-lovers, and it’s fun and rewarding.”
The association is part of the Connecticut River Conservancy, which sponsors the annual Source to Sea Cleanup, a volunteer network spanning four states that cares for the Connecticut River and its tributaries, said Damon, who sports a vintage bright blue T-shirt proudly proclaiming: “Hard Work. Real Fun. True Impact.”
“It’s a great cause, keeping our environment clean, and everyone is welcome,” Becker said. “Mostly we just clean up along the banks of our rivers and streams. We find all kinds of garbage from old tires to plastic bottles and snack wrappers. The Westfield River always looks so good when we are done.”
Like last year, the association is waiting for the Big E to end so it can clean the portion of the Westfield River that runs along the Agawam-West Springfield border.
“Due to the traffic from Big E, the Agawam clean-up at Pynchon Point is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10,” Becker said.
The association welcomes people to join them in Westfield on Saturday, Sept. 19, or Oct. 10, to preregister, if possible, by contacting the coordinator for their area.
Volunteers for the Fall 2026 Westfield River cleanup will gather at a 9 a.m. meeting in Westfield’s public parking lot at the end of Meadow Street near the green bridge.
In Agawam, volunteers will meet at the Pynchon Point parking lot near the South End Bridge Circle on River Road at 9 a.m. The association will distribute gloves and trash bags, offer safety tips, then send off-site teams.
Organizers target watershed sites in Westfield, Russell, Huntington, West Springfield and Agawam.
Assignments are generally completed around noon or 1 p.m.
Everyone is welcome, and children must have a supervisor. WRWA will arrange with local communities for pickup of trash and debris recovered at each site.
For questions, email Damon at markjdamon@gmail.com regarding the Westfield locations, or Becker at sher1earth69@gmail.com for Agawam-area sites.
The Westfield River Watershed Association was established in 1953 to protect and improve the natural resources of the watershed, as well as to expand recreational and other land-use opportunities for people’s enjoyment and sound ecology.
To learn more, visit www.westfieldriver.org and www.ctriver.org/our-work/source-to-sea-cleanup.
