Local residents volunteer time and effort during Little Su River clean-up

Despite the threat of rain, members of the Susitna Rotary, Mat-Su Water Rescue, the Houston Fire Department, and volunteers took to the waters of the Little Su River in Houston for the 17th annual Little Su Classic River Cleanup.

They came in kayaks and canoes, trucks and ATVs to participate in the annual river clean up, removing debris such as logs and lingering garbage that accumulated over the past several months. It was also a chance to explore part of the Little Su.

“Right away, we started doing water safety projects, then we were invited to Founder’s Day and that blossomed into other activities,” said Jack Timm, Water Safety Chair for the Susitna Rotary on Saturday.

Timm said that among some of the activities the Rotary has sponsored includes kayak and canoe races, rubber duckie races, and other events.

In the past, the Susitna Rotary has been responsible for cleaning up several sections of the Little Su, starting up near Schrock Road, making the water safe for everyone to enjoy peaceful fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and even hiking along the way.

“Before you could make it from Schrock Road to here (Houston), you need to get rid of the trees that are falling across the river,” said Timm. “Now we’re doing water safety and cutting the trees over the river and picking up trash. It’s just ballooning.”

The float started near Three Bees Road near Meadow Lakes and finished at the Little Su Rotary Park in Houston.

The river clean up is just one of the efforts that the Susitna Rotary has supported. In recent years, the Rotary has been instrumental in improving access to the Little Su River in Houston, along with constructing a family-friendly park and pavilion, boat launch, and walking trail along a section of the river.

“It was dangerous trying to get in and out of the water here. Now it’s just so easy, people can point their boat into the sand and launch,” says Timm.

The Rotary has also been hard at work improving water safety, setting up free life vests stands along the river and at several lakes around the Borough.

“The Rotary has seven different life jacket boards inside the City of Houston at various water locations,” said Chief Christian Hartley of Houston Fire Department.

The life jackets have been made possible through the Susitna Rotary, along with some businesses and Lotto Alaska, a locally run Statewide lottery that supports local Alaskan nonprofits and charitable organizations.

Hartley said that the visible yellow rope on the life jacket board at the Little Su Rotary Park has already seen action.

“That rope has been used to save at least three kids and one adult,” Chief Hartley says, recalling that last year, it was used to save someone who had gotten stuck in a log jam. “We had to call the Dive team out to come and get him, even though he was close to the riverbank, but the river was moving swiftly, and he was hypothermic. Somebody had thrown it out to him. And those are the ones we know about. Who knows how often it’s been used that we don’t know about.”

After the cleanup, volunteers were treated to a BBQ at the Little Su Rotary Park and Pavilion in Houston.