this is a copy of an article thats ging to be printed in a couple loac news papers
This may not be your idea of a vacation, but at least one Janesville native has set a precedent.
liverjuice*, 33, a worker at where he works*, spent his day off Tuesday pulling worm-infested, swamp-smelling car tires out of the Cedar River in various stages of decomposition.
An avid river man, liver* had grown progressively disgusted with the tires he could see from the bridge near his father’s home by the Green Mill Bridge, but lately, with the drought-depleted water, the sight became unbearable.
It takes quite a bit of muscle and a plugged nose to pull the mud-caked tires out of the river, but try your biceps on one that has been wedged in rotting, entangled tree branches for a couple of decades and you will get a workout and a history lesson as well.
liver* asked his dad, *, who, with the help of two other long-time friends, Maggie and Greg *, to help him haul the tossed tires safely to the shore.
Judging by the remnants, liver* estimates that some of the tires may have been sitting there for up to 40 years, others may have been dislodged from the flood of 2008, and still others appeared to have been discarded in the river so their owners would not have to pay the $3 fee if they were to dispose of them properly.
On final count, they pulled 134 tires that day, a rewarding deed, no doubt, and a first one for the rugged cleaners specifically targeting tires.
“We have cleaned the river many times before, broken glass, cans,you name it,” says liver*. “But this one was different.”
At times, he said, the effort became rocky as the weight caused the boat to crawl with the speed of a snail in the shallow waters.
But thanks to the collective push and the help of environmentally minded neighbors who allowed the crew to use their docks so they wouldn’t have to reload.
"The only thing I'm trying to get out is that people are willing to volunteer without anything to clean up the river," liver* says.
On Friday morning, the friends gathered at the City Park on Barrick Road and waited for a truck from the Bremer County Highway Department to remove the piles. * Peters, the mechanic driving the truck, was relieved to find out that he wouldn’t be the only one throwing the tires in the dumpster. The crew willingly pitched in as a sign of gratitude for the prompt action by the county.
“I have never seen anything like that,” Peters, the driver said.
*= names withheld
the truck that was used to pick up the tires was donated by the county highway department, the county DNR was in full cooperation to take care of propper disposal from there. in the last stretch of the cleanup my dad and i had 36 tires in his flat bottom boat, we had enough room for him to stand and stear the trolly motor and me to sit on the edge of the front to watch for rocks and other natureal river debre
i uploaded a couple pics to my default folder, the paper is gonna print 2 or 3 different ones, ill post more at theyre shared with me
