OCEAN CITY- It’s a tedious process to be sure and likely an endless one, but a brigade of citizen volunteers on this week began systematically cleaning the beach in Ocean City inch by inch, bottle cap by bottle cap and aluminum can by aluminum can in an effort to help the city’s Public Works crews, who are doing the heavy lifting.
The effort was originated by local resident Robert Banach, a beach enthusiast and photographer who was seen the Ocean City beach at its absolute best, and, following the weekend storm that ravaged the shoreline and dumped trash and debris as far as the eye can see, he has seen it at its worse. On Sunday, Banach through a Facebook message invited anyone who cared to join him to begin a methodical, in the sand, on your knees clean-up of the beach.
Volunteers were invited to join Banach and his crew on the beach between the Inlet and the remains of the pier, but with Public Works bulldozers moving mountains of sand in that area, Banach moved the brigade of citizen volunteers to the area just north of the pier building. Around noon on Monday, the volunteers started trickling in slowly at first, but shortly into the effort their ranks had swelled to around 20.
Armed with trash bags and gloves, and cold weather gear, the volunteers started the arduous task of cleaning trash from the debris-strewn beach. Off in the distance, massive bulldozers could be heard moving sand and removing the remains of the end of the pier from the beach, but on the north side of the pier building, the scene was more tranquil as the quiet chore of cleaning trash from the beach continued.
As he looked to the north at the miles of debris-strewn beach, Banach had come to grips with the enormity of the task and didn’t hold out any reservations about completing it in its entirety, but bag after countless bag of trash was coming off the strand.
“The Public Works crews are doing a tremendous job already and they have a monumental task ahead of them, but if we can help in any small way, we’ll feel like we’re making progress,” he said. “We’re only less than an hour into it and we’ve collected dozens of bags of trash. Every little bit helps and I feel like we’re already making a difference.”
Banach and the growing team of volunteers returned each day this week at noon and worked for maybe an hour or so. While the wind still had a little bite to it on Monday, the sun was warm and the conditions were not altogether unpleasing. By Tuesday, the weather had taken a decided turn for the better, and with the word spreading about the private efforts to clean the beaches, the ranks increased.
Despite some early morning rain on Wednesday, the skies cleared and the temperatures warmed and the effort continued. Banach said he hoped his group’s efforts would catch notice and become contagious, and by mid-week some groups struck out on their own and began systematically cleaning the beach where they lived and played in areas all over the resort.
“I chose noon because I know a lot of people are working and they’re busy, but maybe if they can give us a half an hour or so, it all adds up,” he said. “We’ll meet each day around noon near Thrasher’s and spread out from there. I know some people would like to clean the beach near where they live and where they frequent and that’s great too. Again, every little bit helps.”