Partnering up to clean up

Tariq Malik

NEWPORT BEACH -- It was a good hunt Sunday for the fathers and sons

who took kayaks and canoes out into the Back Bay in search of trash.

About 150 members of Dolphin Nation, a collection of the YMCA’s 10

Indian Guide tribes across the Newport-Mesa area, helped pick up trash

and other debris as part of the group’s third annual cleanup.

“We’re just glad to be here in order to raise awareness in our kids

and teach them about the importance of keeping the bay clean,” said Dan

Hayes, the nation’s Chief of Chiefs. “We want to show that we’re a

community.”

The YMCA Indian Guide program, which geared to fathers and sons,

promotes community responsibility through activities such as camping.

The cleanup marked the third year the guides have swept bay waters

clear of rubbish, and raised money for the nonprofit Newport Beach

Aquatic Center, where the guides launched their kayaks.

“We do a number of cleanups here with groups, like the guides and Boy

Scouts, who want to help,” said Billy Whitford, director of the aquatic

center. “This is great because the trash is there and we usually get

about 300 pounds of rubbish out of the bay during big cleanups, like

Clean Harbor Day.”

In teams of two or three, fathers, sons -- as well as one daughter --

slipped into yellow kayaks or canoes and paddled themselves around the

Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve to collect scraps of paper, beer cans

and bottles and stuff them into the trash bags in which they belong.

“He’s never really been kayaking before,” said Newport Beach resident

Bud Haley of his 7-year-old son Jack. “And I think it’s a good lesson for

him to see the environment’s needs.”

Dan Hayes’ son, Trent, 7, spotted the biggest catch of the day -- a

discarded 18-inch television tossed to the waterline of a rocky bluff,

where it landed in pieces.

“Maybe we can fix it up and I can make a fortune,” the boy said

jokingly after his prize was brought ashore.

Most of the rubbish flows into the Back Bay estuary as runoff from

inland cities, though a fair amount of trash does fall from boat traffic

as well, aquatic center officials said.

Though the 50 or 60 pounds of trash fished out of the bay by guides

may have soured the area before its removal, there was one bright side to

its presence.

“This was a great opportunity for me as a father to spend time with my

children,” said Noel Fuge, who brought his sons, Colin, 5, and Cameron,

10, and his daughter Madison, 7, out to collect refuse from the bay. “I

think it’s good for any child to know that if everyone gives a little

bit, that makes a big difference.”