Everyone’s invited to take part in the next Ox Creek Earth Day Clean-Up, set for this coming Saturday, April 25 in Benton Harbor.

Dane Rasmussen is the Ox Creek Project Manager for the city of Benton Harbor and tells us the annual cleanup event has made a difference the past few years, collecting dozens of bags of trash. He says the cleanup seems to grow each year as the crew makes it farther along the long-troubled waterway.

So, what kinds of things do the crews pick up?

“We see car tires and shopping carts and orange cones, but we’ve also found a deer skeleton with a full antler rack,” Rasmussen said. “That was pretty cool a few years ago. Occasionally we find some historical bottles, but it’s mostly newer debris.”

And Rasmussen says ongoing work at the creek has been slowly making a big difference.

“We also have a number of cleanup efforts, grant-funded cleanup efforts in the Ox Creek that we’ve been using professional companies to clean up some of the larger debris, like mattresses and car parts and things that have accumulated over the last hundred years.”

Saturday’s clean-up event will focus on removing litter from Hall Park and along the Ox Creek Corridor, helping to enhance the natural beauty and environmental health of the area. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to attend.

The event will begin at Hall Park at 10 a.m. and continue through 1 p.m. Rasmussen says they’ll also offer lunch, so those who plan to attend should RSVP online. You can do so right here.

As part of the day, Rasmussen says they’ll also hold a ribbon cutting on the new Hall Park improvements, which include the installation of a trail and new basketball courts.