Stream Team 1617 keeps Earth clean

HOWARDVILLE -- The youngsters raced across the playground, gathering up discarded wrappers and empty cans. With each discovery there were shouts and laughter as the litter went into the big yellow plastic bags.

Who knew picking up litter could be so much fun?

Members of Stream Team 1617 do. This will mark their 10th year of working for a clean environment.

On Saturday, as Howardville celebrates "Return to Howardville," the community invited Stream Teams from throughout the state to come help Team 1617 mark a decade of involvement and 20 years of Missouri's Stream Teams.

Vannessa Frazier, coordinator for 1617, said mixing fun and rewards along with a bit of education on the environment has kept the group active for the past decade.

Stream Team 1617 began in 1999 while the community was participating in an Environmental Protection Agency grant. After completing a project with the children, a Department of Natural Resources official suggested Frazier consider something "more sustainable." They suggested organizing a Stream Team, a program created by a partnership between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Conservation.

The New Madrid County Group became Stream Team 1617.

Frazier pointed out until the New Madrid Group formed, the number of Missouri teams was at 1,616 for three years. Today there are more than 4,000.

"They said when we joined, the numbers took off again," she said with a laugh.

Currently more than 100 children and adults are enrolled as Stream Team 1617 members. They come from Missouri towns like New Madrid, Howardville, Lilbourn and Parma.

Much of their efforts don't center around a specific stream in New Madrid County, instead Stream Team 1617 concentrates on doing away with litter.

Mark Van Patten, Stream coordination biologist and the man behind Stream Team 1, said that is just fine.

"All trash that ends up on land can end up in the water. In the Bootheel that is the ditches, but they are still living streams," he said. "Every bit of trash removed from the watershed is important."

They have removed a lot, too. Frazier recalled one day, team members collected 193 bags of litter.

"We had yellow bags lined down the highway," she said.

Outings vary, Frazier said. Sometimes they center around picking up trash. More often, though, Frazier said someone in the community will see the children picking up and will volunteer to cook some hotdogs, others will bring soft drinks. Frazier will use the time while the youth are eating to provide information about the environment or show educational videos.

After each outing, Frazier fills out a report, which she forwards to the state. She said the efforts of the Stream Team are rewarded with special prizes ranging from stickers to sparkling pencils to cups or T-shirts. One of the most popular benefits is joining other Stream Team participants for a float on the Meramac River.

"The children love the water," she said. Also many, who have only seen the Mississippi River, "are surprised to find the water so clean."

While the children enjoy the rewards, Frazier insists everyone is doing it for the environment.

"Even the littlest ones will tell you we have to take care of the Earth," she said.