Thanks for a Successful Creek Cleanup!

With clear skies and calm seas, 52 volunteers helped to remove trash from Cockrells Creek during the 2025 NAPS Creek Cleanup, Sunday, September 14, hosted by the Northumberland Association for Progressive Stewardship (NAPS) with essential support from Omega Protein  and Smith Point Sea Rescue. 

The land base of operations was the Morris-Fisher Stack at Omega Protein in Reedville. After a lunch for all participants around noon, ten kayakers and seven skiffs of cleanup crews set out to comb over twenty miles of shoreline and return to the land base with boatloads of trash. As a safety precaution, a volunteer crew from Smith Point Sea Rescue – Captains Bob Miller, Pete Ortiz, Kendra Simpson and Brent Stansbury – stood watch aboard the Rescue 1.

A trash sorting crew at the “Stack” documented the haul and pulled out material that

could be recycled or reused. The trash was disposed of in a dumpster provided by

Omega Protein, and the recyclable, reusable, and oversized items were placed in a large

trailer and a pickup truck. “They were all overfilled,” said Mike Ahart, NAPS Creek Cleanup team leader, adding that some trash and items had to be left on the docks to be cleaned up later. An estimated 4,500 pounds of refuse was removed from the waterways and shoreline

including hundreds of bottles and cans, nineteen tires, furniture, scrap metal, dock boards and a wide array of other items. 

Captain Monty Deihl’s skiff crew caught a whopper of a telephone pole their first trip back to the dock, winning the “Largest Item” and “Largest Total Haul” awards for the NAPS Cockrells Creek Cleanup 

The “Largest Total Haul” and “Largest/Heaviest Object” award went to the crew of Captain Deihl’s skiff: Henry Deihl, Ryder Gibbs, Zion McKinley-Arthur, Mason Shelton, and Macon Wittman. The team hauled two boatloads of trash back to the dock, including the largest item: a telephone pole.

Each registered participant was awarded a NAPS “Trash Crab” T-shirt and offered a reus-

able grocery bag.

Members of the volunteer skiff crews were Charlotte Austin, Molly Dameron, Henry Deihl, Ryder Gibbs, Olivia Gordon, Sharon Harrison, Ralph Hendrickson, Frank Hum, Victoria Jett, Eric Knudsen, Zion McKinley-Arthur, Deborah Pape, James Scripture, Mason Shelton, Landon Shirilla, Parker Shirilla, Stacy Stansbury and Macon Wittman.

Aiden Amos and Levi Latocha covered the shoreline of the land-base by foot.

Kayaker Andy-Sitison returns with his catch during NAPS’ Cockrells Creek Cleanup

The volunteer kayakers did an outstanding job, bringing back more trash than could fit in a pickup truck bed: Mark Brocato, Brenda Brocato, Ian Brownlee, Margaret Drawbaugh, Susan DuBois, Caitlin Kelly, Ryan Matlaga, Matt Montero, Andy Sitison, and Heather Terry.

The volunteer skiffs captains and mates were Jim Barrett, Heather Cockrell, Nick Cockrell, Brooks Dameron, Monty Deihl, Andy Hall, Rick Kenski, Jack Kram, and Don Stone.

A land-based support crew organized the effort, set up lunch, helped unload the boats returning with their “catch,” sorted the items, and cleaned up after the event: Mike Ahart, Ian Brownlee, Julie Hendrickson, Ralph Hendrickson, Alice Imbur, Don Imbur, Eric Knudsen, Shauna McCranie, Terry Murphy, Kristen Shirilla, Andy Sitison, and Denez Yancey.

The NAPS Creek Cleanup was funded by a donation by Omega Protein, a grant from Volunteer River Counties, and NAPS. Omega Protein funded the lunch, provided the land base venue, dumpster, and two of the skiffs and captains. Special thanks to Smith Point Sea Rescue for providing a safety boat and crew, and two additional Sea Rescue skiffs with captains/mates.

NAPS also thanks Clean Virginia Waterways for providing gloves, grabbers, tongs, trash bags and other support.

“It’s great seeing watermen, students and other residents working together to help restore and preserve our waterways…and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun,” said Ahart.

NAPS has held Creek Cleanup events since 1993, covering each of the county’s major creeks and rivers. To participate in a future cleanup event as a volunteer or sponsor, email Stewardship@NAPSva.org.