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River Round Up

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River Round Up 2023 a Success!  

The Licking County River Round Up is an annual, county-wide river cleanup event in September on the Saturday after Labor Day. This community event brings out hundreds of volunteers who pull tires, shopping carts and mountains of trash from the Licking River and its tributaries.

A heartfelt Thank You goes out to everyone for your support in making the 2023 River Round Up a huge success!  

Totals have finally been tallied (drum roll please!):
Trash to landfill: 25,320 pounds
Tires: 120
Scrap metal: 1,160 pounds

We couldn't have done this without the 240 wonderful volunteers at 13 locations across the county and dedicated committee members!

Registration for 2024 will open in July. Look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday September 7, 2024! 


 

Thank you to our 2023 Sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor: Shackleford Disposal

Platinum Sponsors:   Amazon Web Services, Newark Rotary Club

Gold Sponsors: Intel Corporation, Matesich Distributing, Open Roads Renewables, Leeward Energy, V3 Companies

Silver Sponsors: Granville Kiwanis, The Dawes Arboretum, Village of Granville, The Grove by the River/Goodwill Industries, City of Heath, Village of Hebron, Licking County Health Dept., Licking County Recycling, Soil & Water Conservation District, Licking Park District, City of Newark Stormwater Utility, City of Pataskala, Union Township, State Industrial, Grace Services, RES 

Bronze Sponsors: The Safety Company, LLC, Verdantas, ms consultants, GT Tire, Pataskala Dari Hut, Zane State College, Affordable Portables, Licking County Planning, Licking County Engineer, JEO Consulting

BECOME A SPONSOR: We appreciate our sponsors!  Want to get involved?  Sign up online at the left!

 

River Round Up 2023: Poster Contest Winners

Event Committee

Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow:  Steve Glade  www.buckeyelakefortomorrow.org 

Community Members: Jim & Lynna Kiracofe 

City of Pataskala: Alan Haines - cityofpataskalaohio.gov

City of Heath: Daulton Brown - heathohio.gov

City of Newark Stormwater Utility: Lindsey Brighton - newarkohio.net/city-services/stormwater

Grove by the River/Goodwill Industries: Lisa Baker - thegrovebytheriver.com

Licking County Health Department: Katie Beaver - lickingcohealth.org

Licking County Recycling: Andrea Krava - lcounty.com/rlc

Licking County Soil & Water Conservation District: Kristy Hawthorne - LickingSWCD.com

Licking Park District: Anne Balogh - lickingparkdistrict.com

Matesich Distributing: Mike Hinger - matesichbeer.com

The Dawes Arboretum: Kathy Annarino- dawesarb.org

Union Township: Paula Greene - uniontownship-licking.com

Village of Hanover:  Nicloe Gieseler - hanoverohio.net

Village of Hebron: CJ Ward - hebronvillage.org

Village of Granville: Debi Walker Yost - granville.oh.us


  • History:  The river clean up brought out hundreds of volunteers who pulled tires, shopping carts and mountains of trash from an 18 mile stretch of the river. Through their efforts, a river that had all but been abandoned, has seen a rebirth of aquatic and bird life. Due to the closing of a canoe livery and the changing of staff, the River Round Up ended in 2003.

    Rebirth:  After a break of eight years, several Licking County and City of Newark agencies came together to bring back the River Round Up in 2011. The recent clean ups have been very successful. In 2014, for the 20th anniversary of the River Round Up, our goal was to continue to branch out into the community and clean up more waterways throughout the county.

    Now:  We have succeeded by expanding the clean up to Pataskala, Union Township, Granville, and Hebron, in addition to maintaining the clean ups in Newark, Blackhand Gorge, St. Louisville, and Buckeye Lake. In 2015, Shackleford's Disposal came on board as our Presenting Sponsor. We added the City of Heath as a new clean up location near Hoback Park and The Dawes Arboretum joined the committee. For 2022, we are looking forward to another successful clean up, new partners and volunteers, and continuing to raise awareness about taking care of our waterways.