CITO at Shenango

Hey y'all just wanted to put it out there that I'm planning on organizing a CITO at The Shenango Lake. I'm not sure exactly where it'll be yet as I'm just getting things set up.

I'll be in contact with the rangers for the lake and brainstorm with them and pick areas that are in great need of cleaning. I'm planning for a 3 hour CITO with a meeting/discussion for breakfast and a potluck afterwards. Total event time is roughly 5 hours.

I'm making "pickup sticks" so we won't have to be touching other peoples trash as much. I'll get a list of supplies either that I have or will bring as well as a supply list that others can volunteer to bring to help out. Cachers with pickups are STRONGLY encouraged to come. I have a trailer we can fill if not.

We're thinking of having a central meeting spot for the breakfast and discussion to outline what we want to do as far as litter collection. We'll CITO for around 3 hours and have a potluck dinner after to reward everyone for their hard work.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please feel free to post a comment. This is afterall a group effort so let's make this happen. I'm gonna shoot for the middle to end of September for the event. My thinking for this is so that the area gets cleaned up after the summer crowds. Then in late spring I plan on having another CITO to further clean up for the summer season.

If there are any areas that any cachers think could use cleaned up OTHER than around The Shenango Lake the please post those areas as well. If someone knows of a local garbage dump (new or old) then please post it! Garbage has its own place and its not scattered throughout the woods. We'll recycle anything we can possibly think of and what's left will be garbage.

So after I get some more info I'll post it to this thread so its all in one post. Thank you ahead of time to anyone who's planning on helping or attending.

Happy Caching,
Dr. Cachenstein

Great idea Dustin. I don't have a pickup, but will be able to bring some hands for helping.

I dont have a pickup either, but you know i'll help anyway i can.

Well I have a truck and trailer we could use for any larger items we may find such as appliances or tires. Also would anyone be interested in buying CITO tshirts? I was thinking those HI VIS GREEN shirts that construction crews wear would be a nice way to be seen and advertise our efforts. I was leaning towards using the CITO logo but replace cache in with MASH IN. To represent our group. Or use the CITO logo and have MASH Valley at the top or on the back possibly. Any thoughts on this? I'll say the cost per shirt would be around $10-15 each depending on the detail of the design, number of colors, etc.

Well, WE GOT THE OK! The Lake Resource Manager at The Shenango Lake got back to me. They openly welcome our efforts! They've offered to supply trash bags, gloves and a shelter for us to host a breakfast meeting as well as a pot luck lunch/dinner.

We're planning on 5 hours. 1 hour for breakfast meeting, 3 hours cleanup (or more) and an hour lunch/dinner. Does this seem enough for everyone or does it seem too long? I think after 3 hours we can have a nice amount of trash collected.

Anytime you're out at the lake in the next few months, keep an eye out for spots that we can divide up the group and tackle numerous sites during the day. I'm in the process of making trash pokers so we're not having to bend over for trash constantly.

Any other thoughts or ideas are MORE THAN WELCOME!

Mahaney, Chestnut Run Swim Beach, the Campground....Those are the ones im thinking...but im always open to other ones!

I know Ferguson Point ( old over flow camp ground) is in need of some help at the parking area

would that be where the cache Tent City is located? I noticed in early spring it was BAD but drove past a few weeks ago and it "looked" cleaned up but I didn't pull in. If this is where you were referring to its on the list already but thanks for pointing it out to bring it to my attention. I may stop out and look things over tonight

That would be the area.

I haven't been out there lately. But a co-worker of mine takes a youth group out there the end of June. They clean up and take lawn mowers and weed wackers out there. So I would hope its in descent shape now.

We'd like to be involved. We are doing a CITO event on August 11th on the night of the Perseid meteor shower near Dayton. This is the third year for the free beach camp-in, star viewing, and morning beach clean up. That will be so cool and are praying for clear skies. The astronomy group sell hot dogs, marshmallows and other eats to the participants and use the money as a fund raiser. The people that attend don't have to do all things. Some come for the star gazing or the bonfire, or only the CITO Event. I think this kind of thing would be so great for us to do. I just looked up when the next meteor shower is and it said that on October 20th has the Orionids meteor shower and the moon will be 1st quarter (which is better for viewing shooting stars). The Orionid meteor shower is the second of two showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley's Comet. We will need good weather. Ed Shank is one of our geocachers. His wife does the astronomy programs at YSU and if you think there is interest, I'll call her. I know we can do this in the late fall, winter or spring but traditionally October in our area is less wet and it doesn't start to snow til Halloween (LOL).

2McDs I saw your post about attending Sunday morning Beach CITO III and wanted to let you know that Mazhole and myself at both going to attend. We are Attending Night at the Beach II as well the night before. We love camp and thought it would be amazing to see the shower. In your post on Sunday Morning Beach CITO you said you were having problem contacting someone about the camping the night before. We just spoke with a ranger at the park by calling this number 513-897-2437, they said just to show up and they will do registration there. No need for a reservation. Hope this helps you out a little bit and hopefully we can meet ya

We are down here by Dayton already. We got our last D/T combination for the Fizzy. We're looking forward to seeing fellow GeoMasSh-ers there. Clear skies are forecast. We hope to see some meteors. The last two night's storms were rough but we're dry now and ready for some more geocaching.

I don't have a truck either, but working hands and a willing heart! I spend a lot of time around the lake and it definitely can use some cleanup! I was recently out by the caches "Golden Run Trail" & "Dukie, Tootsie, & Dixie too", that whole beach area (especially the beach by the 2nd parking lot, off of Neshannock Rd.) was really a mess. Looking forward to cleaning up such a nice area that has so many wonderful caches there.

There must have been 20 of us at Caesar Creek and we only got about 10 half filled bags. I had to go into the woods to pick up trash because my bag had hundreds of tiny things in it like cigarette butts, wrappers, straws, and small drink boxes. At least the woods had cans, bags and bottles that made it look like I was doing something. They gave us the gloves and bags. No appliances were found.