Kids go all out for 'Cleanup with the Corps'

Greenbrier Learning Center students attack the caches of debris that have collected along the Four Mile Run creek bed, during the Saturday, May 14, "Cleanup with the Corps" event kicking off AmeriCorps Service Week.

Silver chrome, soda bottle spectacles magnified the energy pouring out from his ashen eyes. With a traceable Greek accent he introduced himself in English and then switched to exchanging pleasantries in Spanish.

It was 9:30 am, Saturday, May 14, and just another opportunity for Takis Karantonis to extend his goodwill to the citizens of Arlington, outside of his existing philanthropy with the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization and Arlingtonians for a Cleaner Environment.

Speaking to a handful of children and their families at Greenbrier Learning Center’s Virginia Garden’s site, Karantonis explained how runoff from the rain found its way into Arlington’s streams and tributaries before they emptied into the Potomac. Engaging in a dialogue with the kids, he helped them understand the stages of the water-cycle. In a nutshell, water evaporated from the oceans, fell as rain on land, and worked its ways into streams merging with rivers that carried water back to the oceans, where the process began anew. Sure there were some moments of perplexity where the kids’ faces mirrored the labors of constipation, but when all was said and done, Karantonis had made his point and the kids and families were fired up about cleaning their community.

Karantonis was one of two guest speakers who convened on behalf of Cleanup with the Corps, an event held in concert between Greenbrier Learning Center and the Four Mile Run Restoration Group. Miguel Ortega, field director was the other individual who spoke at the Greenbrier site. In total a group of around 30 individuals composed of kids, family members, volunteers and Greenbrier and Four Mile Run staff and AmeriCorps Members took part in an hour-and-a-half environmental beautification effort at Barcroft and Glencarlyn parks.

I’d been planning this event for months in collaboration with my extremely cool and very effective boss, Virginia Gardens Site Coordinator Erin Garnett and the friendly as ever Invasive Plant Program Coordinator Sarah Archer, so when the skies opened up on us at 9:05 am it felt like a harbinger of gloom had descended, but it was only a feeling.

When 18 of us at the Virginia Gardens site embarked for our cleanup at 10 am, the clouds had already emptied their contents making for a temperate morning to be outdoors. Karantonis’ poignant speech coupled with trash-picking prize potential the kids set out in a buzz. The kids from both sites competed to earn the award for collecting trash in five categories: longest piece, most unusual piece, funniest piece, prettiest piece, and greatest overall volume.

Erin Lee Givarz artistically crafted medallions for the first four categories and Greenbrier Learning Center handed out t-shirts to the team members of the two groups that collected the greatest volume of trash. One girl found a Sacajawea-like hair braid extension, a medal coil that when unfurled would stretch over 100 feet, and collected a Viking’s load of trash, netting her the longest piece, the most unusual piece, and helping her team win the greatest overall volume category. One young lad found a rubber ducky which earned him the funniest piece. And another girl found a jewelry charm to take home the prize for prettiest piece of trash collected.

The kids got into it. At one point they had an assembly line going at the Four Mile Run creek bed where they passed recyclables from one kid to another, to another, before slamming them home in the clear recyclable bag. It was a stark moment of eco-glory that Gaia herself would have been proud of.

In the spirit of the day we had a celebration barbecue tended to by grill-masters Carolyn Schulte and the radiantly beautiful, Ileana Vink, who I still haven’t properly thanked nor could ever summon the right words to adequately show her how wonderful she truly is. Her brilliance is just as resplendent as her romantic streak, and the way she writes about our six-month anniversary that we recently celebrated is like attending a Metric/Killers/Flaming Lips show at the outbreak of a pax mundus.

Anyhow, the barbecue was encouraging as I witnessed the kids being kids as they took off their shoes and waded in Four Mile Run alongside the Glencarlyn Park picnic shelter. I also believe that like Morpheus finding Neo, I’ve found a new Kobayashi protégé. After some minor prompting from my end, the kid ate seven different food items among the gamut of turkey burgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, cup cakes and cheese- and fruit-stuffed pastries. I can’t wait to work with at the Greenbrier Learning Center site this summer so I can help train this kid in competitive eating and prepare him for stardom.