Organizers Don Larson and John Denis recruited shoreline cleanup volunteers and scuba divers on behalf of the Kitsap Diving Association, Kitsap Trees, and Washington Scuba Alliance.

Divers and shore-walkers plumbed the depths and combed the shores of the Sinclair in Bremerton and Port Orchard searching for junk and long-discarded or lost items.

“I am again extremely proud to report we enjoyed another very successful effort on the Port Orchard side of the Sinclair Clean-up. Our team of approximately three dozen - largely supported by South Kitsap Honor Society - including a 12-member diving team coordinated by Sound Dive Shop of Bremerton's Geoff Pentz, Jim Snyder, and Mike Deane, collected an estimated 500 pounds of debris,” said Denis.

Volunteers filled a 6-cubic yard dumpster near the SR-304/railroad tracks, entrance to Bremerton and two other 6-cubic yard dumpsters were filled at downtown Bremerton Boardwalk and Annapolis Dock in Port Orchard.

“We found an excessive amount of fireworks debris, plastics and paper, big stuff - looked like parts of an old burned and cut-up fiberglass boat, dock parts and 2 barnacle-covered 2X4 dock gates that washed ashore, “ said organizer Don Larson.

State Department of Ecology TMDL Coordinator Sally Lawrence commended the efforts of the organizers in an email following the event. “Your efforts are outstanding! Thank you for this dedication of time, talent, brains, brawn, coordination and courage to the community and to the waters and aquatic life of Sinclair Inlet!”

Some of the “booty” recovered by divers and beachcombers included ten full 15-gallon bags of general rubbish, four full 15-gallon bags of recyclables, in addition to one entire bike, two cell phones, one traffic cone, four bike seats, 10 tires, two fishing rods and reels, one fire extinguisher, three sets of bicycle handlebars, one snorkel, one crab net, two bike racks, 22 feet of PVC pipe, 20 feet of Aluminum tubing, a six-foot section of a semi-truck tire, 6-cubic feet of carpeting, and some 8-foot 2"x4"s.

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste to the sky as well as the earth”

In addition to the many volunteers, SPECIAL THANKS goes to the team of sponsors who fed, outfitted, and have faithfully supported the Fall-time clean-ups, including the following:

• Pizza Hut (Port Orchard) — pizzas
• Pizza Time (Port Orchard) — pizzas
• Seabeck Pizza (Port Orchard) — pizzas
• Godfather's Pizza (Port Orchard) — pizzas
• Spiro's Pizza (Port Orchard) — pizzas
• KFC — (Port Orchard)
• Scott McLendon's Ace True-Value Hardware (Port Orchard) — gloves and trash bags
• Washington. State Dept. of Transportation — Refuse bags
• Sound Dive Shop (Bremerton) — air and divers
• Kitsap Co. Public Works Dept. — storm drain stencil kits, safety vests, gloves
• Blue Sky Printing — advertising posters
• Port Orchard Independent — publicity
• Kitsap Sun — publicity

Pacific Northwest Salmon Center inducts
Scherrer into Wild Salmon Hall of Fame

The Pacific Northwest Salmon Center (PNWSC) paid tribute to an individual in the third annual induction into the Wild Salmon Hall of Fame (WSHF) held at the Bremerton Harborside on Sept.24. The WSHF honors one new inductee annually, with nominations accepted from across the entire Pacific Northwest.

Chosen from numerous nominations sent in from both Washington and Oregon, the award honors one who has demonstrated extraordinary careers working in salmon recovery efforts and fostering a passion for Wild Salmon - both professionally and personally.

This year, the honor went to Wendy Scherrer, Executive Director of the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association in Whatcom County chosen from the six finalists. Among Scherrer's many contributions to preservation and recovery of wild salmon, she has organized thousands of hours from volunteers each year, taught at Western Washington University, served on taken part in environmental planning efforts in her community, and recipient of several other achievement awards including the Northwest Women's Hall of Fame.

Scherrer was presented with a smaller replica of the focal centerpiece in the WSHF, a bronze casting of a sculpted carving from an 800-year old Washington Coastal Cedar original created by Al Adams. “The Dance” is a symbolic representation of the spawning dance of the wild salmon.

The selection committee for the 2005 award included: Congressman Norm Dicks, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chair Billy Frank Jr., Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife program manager Charles Cooarino, and Chairman Bill Ruckelshaus of the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

The PNWSC of Belfair will be a world-class educational, research, and conference center slated to be in operation by the summer of 2007. For more information, call the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group at 360-275-3575 to arrange a presentation to your group or community.