May 2010 - PCA-SAR Home Page

REPORT FROM THE BUSH: ADOPT-A-ROADWAY, APRIL 10, 2010
by Mark Fuller
SAR (Newest) Member
Mark Fuller displays a full bag of trash gathered
along Orange Grove during the club’s recent
Adopt‐a‐Roadway cleanup morning
Adopt‐a‐Roadway Gang, except Rink who is
manning the camera
As the newest member of PCA‐SAR, having joined literally a day before the Pima
County Adopt‐a‐Roadway Program, I was anticipating meeting members of the SAR
Club and sharing in the community spirit and conviviality of my first SAR event. I was
very humbled and pleased by the friendship and feeling of immediate welcome
from all those participating in the event.
We assembled bright and early, some 20 strong, at the Krispy Krème donut shop on
Oracle. Fueled up on coffee and donuts, we were ready to tackle the section of
roadway on Orange Grove between Oracle and 1st Ave. Properly briefed and
equipped with safety vests and the requisite plastic bags to gather the discarded
materials along the berm, we divided into two groups and headed along either side
of the road.
The early morning temperature was perfect and the light Saturday traffic certainly
was conducive to the task at hand. As we worked our way along, it was fun and in‐
teresting listening to stories of previous cleanups undertaken by Club members and
to find out more about the Club and fellow members. This was in fact an ideal venue
for a new member to visit with and work hand‐in‐hand with Club members, helping
make our community look more presentable.
The nationwide effort of sponsorship for the Adopt‐a‐Roadway program provides
the Department of Transportation with an extra resource for cleaning highways.
Some of the usual and not so usual items we found and bagged were a large pillow‐
type mattress, a pair of pants—yes, lots of speculation as to how those came to be
by the side of the roadway (and no, not found next to the mattress), and the usual
assemblage of car parts and tires.
Arriving near the end of our assigned area, we saw a disturbing sight—two fairly
new roadway signs, one of which was a bicycle sign literally mowed down, perhaps
by a car that was out of control and (most of us surmised) by a driver who, the next
morning when he sobered up, realized the tremendous damage he must have done
to his car. We also found some drug related paraphernalia that we left in situ and
reported to the Tucson Police Department. This was another good example of the
civic action provided by our club.
At the conclusion of the project, we received a very good demonstration by Rink on
the identification and eradication of buffelgrass. Buffelgrass grows densely and
crowds out native plants of similar size. Competition for water can weaken and kill
larger desert plants. Eradication is of prime importance and is an on‐going project
by club members undertaken as part of our Adopt‐a‐Roadway program.
As my first SAR event, I want to again thank my fellow participants in the Pima
County Adopt‐a‐Roadway program for their efforts and for making me feel so wel‐
comed to the club. It was fun as well to see so many beautiful Porsches at the event
and to share experiences. For those members who have not participated in the
Adopt‐a‐Roadway cleanup, I highly recommend it as an excellent community service
event, great camaraderie; the coffee and donuts provided by the club are a nice
touch too.
Even the bushes are in danger from
the Adopt‐a‐Roadway Gang
–photos by Rink Reinking
www.pcasar.com Zuffenhausen News | May 2010 | 13