The annual Toss No Mas Fall Cleanup staged by the Keep Ruidoso Beautiful committee in conjunction with the village parks department and many sponsors drew 170 volunteers in October.
Through their effort, during the morning, 236 bags of litter were collected weighing in at 4,720 pounds. They worked in teams along a 10.5 mile stretch or road and river.
"They cleaned up 4 miles of the Ruidoso River, a half-mile of Carrizo Creek, a half mile of Eagle Creek and 1.5 miles of Gavilan Canyon," David Tetreault with the village Parks and Recreation Department said.
Among the volunteers were 94 participants from youth groups, who raised $940 for their clubs and leagues. The 10 groups were Girl Scout Troop 16008, SWAT Softball, Ruidoso Middle School Cheerleaders, Ruidoso High Cheerleaders, Ruidoso Middle School Knowledge Bowl, Eastern New Mexico University National Society of Leadership and Success, Cub Scout Troop 59, Mountain Life Nutrition, Ecoservants and Lincoln County Young Guns Wrestling Club.
Sponsors included City Bank, 1st National Bank, Washington Federal, Pioneer Bank, Albertson's Market, Thriftway Supermarket, Walmart, Cannon Point S Tire & Auto, Foxworth Galbraith Hope Improvement Center, Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe, MCM Elegante Lodge, Sysco Food Service, Sierra Cinema, Ruidoso Winter Park, Noisy Water Winery, Jeff Kaplan and Reyna Flores, KEDU-Harvey Twite, KWES-Jackson, Pizza Hut and Domino's.
News Reference: Ruidoso News