Councilwoman Barbara Denny is Pleased to Announce that the Silver Strand Beach Cleanup was a Huge Success

The Silver Strand State Beach cleanup was a huge success. I extend a heartfelt thank you to all who participated. Our people are our best and most important asset. After our people, our beaches comprise our second most valuable asset. They give us a sense of place and identity. Whether you consider Coronado an island or a peninsula, we are a beach town. No doubt about it. I was inspired to see our volunteers — young and old, military and civilian, from near and far — filled with energy and enthusiasm for cleaning up Silver Strand State Beach on Saturday, September 19, 2009. I was pleased to accept the invitation to serve as Site Captain for Silver Strand State Beach. I asked Dave Herring, Coronado Cays HOA President, to be my Co-Captain. With the help of two bright interns from California State Parks Department, we had fun hosting Coastal Cleanup Day at the Silver Strand. We had a record turnout. Our 205 volunteers collected 340 pounds of trash and 100 pounds of recycling along 3 miles of our coast. Volunteers came from the Coronado Cays, Silver Strand Military Housing and Coronado Village. They also came from Imperial Beach, San Diego, Chula Vista and Bonita. The volunteers who travelled the farthest were from Redmond, Oregon. There were 49 volunteers who were Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts from Silver Strand Elementary School and Chula Vista. They will receive special badges to show their participation in Coastal Cleanup Day at Silver Strand. There were 70 football players from St. Augustine’s High School in Point Loma. These boys adopted the Silver Strand as their community project so from time to time they conduct cleanups at the beach. We also had volunteers who were Disney Store employees and their families. They came all the way from San Ysidro and Imperial Valley. In addition to the usual trash and recyclable materials, our volunteers found two rusted cables with a diameter of 1″ and a combined total of 7 feet in length. They also found a boat mattress with the dimensions 5′ x 2′ x 2″. Our contribution at Silver Strand State Beach was an important part of the San Diego County-wide efforts of over 10,000 volunteers who met at 80 sites from along our county coastline to our inland rivers, lakes, streams and estuaries for the California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Cleanup Day 2009. This figure tops last year’s 9,700 volunteers. The next time you go surfing, swimming, walking or kite-surfing at Silver Strand beach, know that 205 volunteers had fun making it cleaner, safer and more pleasant for you to enjoy on the 25th Annual California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Cleanup Day. For updates on my events and voting record, kindly go to www.barbaratdenny.com.