POWERGRAMS

22 Among the volunteers are John Owen and his wife, Debbie. Although they have adopted Young's Island, the couple are always on the lookout elsewhere. "We clean up anywhere we go," said Owen, who has lived around or played on Lake Martin for about 60 years. "We keep bags and trash pickers in our pontoon boat all the time. I abhor nasty trash. I love the lake, and I want to keep it clean and beautiful. We're just doing our small part by picking up trash and making the lake a beer place." Owen said he's "amazed" at the variety of items he's found dumped on the island and along the shore. He has filled up 60-gallon trash bags with everything from beer cans to glass boles to plastic wrappers to snuff cans to construction debris. A maress and bedsprings, chairs and an oven were among his finds. But it has not all been "real" trash. Once, while looking for debris on Young's Island, John and Debbie uncovered a true treasure. With her picker in hand, Debbie was walking along a bluff where a house stood many years ago. In an area where the land had eroded, she spoed an old blue and white oval bole. "When we took the cap off, we could still smell the perfume," Owen said, speculating that the bole had been buried since a family moved from the house in 1926. Alabama Power's Shoreline Management team has adopted one of the islands. Hanks, together with Real Estate Specialist Clint McKelvey and Administrative Specialist Kristi Cheaney, oen head out in a company boat to check their island for trash. "We believe it's good for the environment and aesthetically aractive for the public to keep things clean," Hanks said. The LMRA supplies volunteers with trash bags, pickers and Treasured Mile T-shirts. The organization will deliver trash to a dumpster for volunteers who find too much debris to load into their own boats. Thompson said the program's effectiveness is clear. On Memorial Day 2017, holiday revelers le lots of trash on one of the lake's most popular beaches. Photos of the area were posted on Facebook, and within 24 hours, volunteers had removed all the trash, "right down to the cigaree bus," Thompson said. "The program is working," he said. "The proof is what you see along the shoreline. It's not as heavily trashed up because people are participating. The areas around the lake are much cleaner than ever before because the individuals who have adopted them have done their job and kept them clean. I'm extremely proud of the program, and I want to see it last for the next 100 years." For more information or to adopt a portion of shoreline, visit www.lmra.info. ENVIRONMENT LMRA supplied trash bags. Volunteers bundled up to pick up trash along shorelines.

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