By Peggy Bullard

Two young ladies participated in two of the events Lake Mitchell Home Owners Boat Owners had this year.

They worked diligently to help make Lake Mitchell a better place. Hats off to the grandparents who got them involved.

Eddie and Anita Westbrook came to the fish habitat on the north end of the lake on March 22 with their granddaughter Samantha, who worked pulling the trees off the bed of the truck and stacking into bundles ready to be tied.

She also helped to tie the floaters to the tops. After all that was done, she took the initiative to sweep out the bed of the truck and bag all the loose debris. In doing this, she found a “101 Dalmatians” Christmas ornament that had been left on one of the trees and fallen to the bed of the truck.

She was delighted with her reward as we washed it up with some of our bottled water.

Samantha would have been happy with no reward at all because her grandparents were taking her fishing after the work was done.

I hope they caught some fish. I know we all enjoyed having Samantha help us that day.

Chip and Jeanete Gates brought their granddaughter, Juliana Davis, to the Renew Our Rivers cleanup on April 2. Juliana also worked hard picking up trash around the lake and then helped to get it loaded on the dump truck.

She worked hard, enjoyed being with her grandparents and is learning that there is a lot of work in keeping the lake clean and pristine for everyone’s enjoyment. Her only reward was a hot dog lunch, but she said it was all really fun.

We appreciate these grandparents for getting these children involved. Also, thanks to Eddie Westbrook, who is a retired Alabama Power employee, and Chip Gates, who is the chairman of the Historical Committee for Lake Mitchell HOBO.

There is always work to be done on the lake, and getting the younger generation involved is important to the future of all our lakes, rivers and streams.

Peggy Bullard is a community correspondent for the Lake Mitchell area. Look for the next installment of her column in a future edition of The Clanton Advertiser.