Richard J. DelFino III, who represents District 1 on the Johnston Town Council, doesn’t like seeing decaying or deteriorating land anywhere. So much so that the second-term Councilman will continue his battle this Saturday during the Third Annual Pocasset River Clean-up.
“On behalf of the great residents of District 1 and Mayor Joseph Polisena, I’m personally inviting as many Johnstonians as possible to participate in this highly-important project,” DelFino said. “We’ve had two super successful clean-ups in the past years, but we’re all hoping this will be our largest and biggest ever.”
DelFino announced that the Third Annual Pocasset River Clean-up will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at the Pocasset Little League Field – where he once played youth baseball – and will run until 1 p.m. or as long as people want to clean-up the unnecessary rubble and debris that blocks the water flow.
Those who plan to participate in Saturday’s clean-up must be 18 years or older.
“We will obviously welcome any and all younger folks under age 18,” DelFino said, “But they must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. It’s also important for people to know that his is a Community Service Eligible Project.”
DelFino said that tools, gloves and supplies participants will use during Saturday‘s cleanup will be provided. Since most of the clean-up will be at the stream-side of the Pocasset Field property, he said people should wear boots or water resistant foot gear and comfortable outdoor work cloths.
In keeping with tradition, Saturday’s clean-up will also include refreshments for those volunteers that turn out for what DelFino called “the most important outdoor environmental project of the year in District I.”
The third annual Pocasset River Clean-up is being jointly supported by Polisena, the Town of Johnston and the award-winning Pawtuxet River Authority.
DelFino also said that Robert Nero, the long-serving chairman of the Pawtuxet River Authority, will assist in the leadership of Saturday’s clean-up and will be accompanied by Michael Maddalena, a member of the PRA Board of Directors.
As Nero said, “We’ve taken everything from old truck tires to glass and lawn mowers out of the river during this annual clean-up. It is my dream – as well as that of many, many others, for people to someday be able to canoe along the entire Pawtuxet River.”
DelFino echoed those sentiments, as did Polisena, who remembers a previous clean-up when volunteers had to use the winch of a truck to pull a shopping cart that was weighted down by a huge water-soaked blanket out of the river.
“There’s no need – none whatsoever – for our natural resources to be destroyed by such behavior,” Polisena said. “The Pocasset River as well as the Pawtuxet are beautiful waterways and should be protected at all times.”
DelFino said, “It is important that we work together to improve our environment and this cleanup is a great way each year to make those much needed improvements. The past two years have been a success and we are expecting to build on that momentum Saturday.”
As history has it, as DelFino III explained, “The Pocasset River flows 12.4 miles and has five dams along its length.”
He said the river rises between Brown Avenue and Belfield Drive in Johnston and continues in a southerly direction through Johnston and Cranston to the city line with Warwick, where it converges into the Pawtuxet River.
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