FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/26/08

Youths honored for gorge cleanup

By:  KENNETH HART
The Independent

OLIVE HILL — Many an outdoorsman who has traveled through Tygart Gorge will swear it is the most breathtakingly beautiful spot in the entire region ... and perhaps the entire state.

Tom Clay is one such individual.

Clay, business manager at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, is an avid fisherman. He said Tuesday that on his canoe trips through the gorge, he barely manages to get a hook in the water because he’s too busy gazing upon the abundant flora, the 200-foot cliff walls and the other natural attractions the spot has to offer.

About the only thing that mars the beauty of the gorge, Clay said, is the abundance of waste tires that tend to collect there, particularly after heavy rains.

Recently, though, some youth decided to attempt to do something about that problem. And, on Wednesday, they were recognized for their efforts.

Judge-Executive Charles Wallace presented copies of a document proclaiming Wednesday to be “Tygart Gorge Cleanup Day” in Carter County to a group of boys from the Ramey-Estep Home who participated in the cleanup under the supervision of Bryan Mattingly, a science teacher at Ramey-Estep High School and unabashed fan of the gorge.

The presentation took place during a brief ceremony at the Ky. 182 bridge, near the entrance to Carter Caves State Park.

Clay said that particular spot is where canoers in the gorge typically end their journeys and pull their vessels out of the water.

Mattingly — who said he discovered the gorge in the 1970s and has been making regular trips there ever since — said the boys used canoes to haul the tires out of the gorge barge-style. They were placed on the creek bank and picked up by a tire recycler, he said.

John, 15, Matt, 16, and Nick, 17, three of the Ramey-Estep boys who took part in the May project, all said they had a good time doing so. But, they said it was a lot of work, too.

All three also said they’d never been canoeing prior to participating in the cleanup.

Ramey-Estep CEO Denny Locey said the project fit perfectly with the home’s mission of turning troubled youths, many of whom have had brushes with the law, into responsible, productive citizens.

“We try to teach them about giving back to the community and the rewards that come with that,” he said.

Locey said it made no difference that the home is in Boyd County and the area the boys were charged with cleaning up is in Carter.

“We serve the entire area. This is part of our community, too,” he said.

The tire removal project actually began with a youth volunteer group at Boyd County High School, of which Mattingly’s 16-year-old daughter, Kali, is a member. Several weeks before the Ramey-Estep boys went into the gorge, members of the group managed to pull out about 20 old tires, Kali Mattingly said.

She said she hoped to make the cleanup an annual event and to involve more groups in it next year.

“It’s sure pretty in (the gorge),” Kali Mattingly said. “But, those tires are sure an eyesore.”

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.

 

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