On Saturday, May 10, 2008 close to 30 club members and family met at the Utah Lake Marina and picked up trash along the shore of the inner marina (the club's Adopt-A-Park area), raked up and cleared reeds and other debris from the west facing beach, and installed new decking on the old course #3 dock.

There wasn't as much trash and debris to clean up as in years past, since the Park Service has already been busy cleaning things up, installing picnic benches, shade pavilions and laying new rock and boulders along some of the new shore line (i.e. Provo River side).

Club equipment managers Keith, Tim and Matt have been very busy over the last few months repairing the old course #3 dock. Saturday, club members worked well into the late afternoon and didn't even ski that day, installing new redwood decking. This is one of the last steps before moving the dock from Keith's house and floating it back over to Course #3.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the service project (Thanks to Josh for driving the mule around!) and thank you to Utah Park Service Rangers Ty, George and Megan for getting everything ready for the service project.

Below are some photos of the day.

PS. The next service project is on September 13, 2008.

(More pictures were taken, but due to a new operating system, #@&*!! Microsoft Vista, all of them weren't transferred from the camera card to my laptop, and I didn't check to make sure before reformatting the disk. There were great picture of club members hanging out during lunch and of the "historic" work that was done on the dock - historic, because the dock is going to last another 10-15 years before it will need to be remodeled again.)

Thirty-two Utah Water Ski club members and friends attended the club’s annual spring service project pulling logs and other debris from the Utah Lake Marina deposited by the Provo River runoff.  Working alongside Utah State park rangers, and using the park's two flat bed trailers and a chainsaw, attendees cleaned up several tons of debris that posed a water hazard as well as making the marina's beaches pretty ugly.

As part of an agreement with the Utah Lake State Park allowing the club to install and maintain two water ski courses on the lake, the Utah Water Ski Club committed to two service projects per year.  In years past the club picked up trash around the marina’s perimeter and installed and repaired several fences.  With this year’s high-runoff, pulling logs out of the Provo River was a huge project.

Along with its commitment to two service projects per year, the Utah Water Ski Club is the first participant in Utah Lake’s Adopt-A-Park program.  “The club has gone above and beyond in helping to keep Utah Lake and the marina clean,” said Ty Hunter, Utah Lake’s park manager for the last three years.  “The Adopt-A-Park program is designed to help keep the lake and facilities attractive and safe with the ultimate goal to encourage people to enjoy the benefits of the lake.”  The Adopt-A-Park program is an on-going relationship between county parks and individuals or volunteers from organizations, schools, youth groups, and businesses.

Ranger Hunter explained that the several tons of debris pulled from Utah Lake during the club's spring service project is considered “green waste” and will be chipped into mulch by Provo City’s Public Works Department for use around the city.

Working from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, club members performed a total of 96 people hours cleaning up the marina.  “The Adopt-A-Park service project was a great success,” said Scot Chipman, club president.  “It will benefit all users of Utah Lake, including the 60 Utah Water Ski Club members.”

Luckily no one squished a toe or got blisters on their hands, so after a few slices of pizza and re-hydrating with sodas, club members hit the lake and went skiing!

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