There were plenty of butts on the beach at Lydgate Park yesterday, but it wasn’t an issue of indecent exposure. In honor of Earth Day, which will be officially celebrated Tuesday, The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park and other
There were plenty of butts on the beach at Lydgate Park yesterday, but it wasn’t an issue of indecent exposure.
In honor of Earth Day, which will be officially celebrated Tuesday, The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park and other volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got down and dirty picking up cigarette butts, among other rubbish.
Volunteers from keiki to kupuna were spread out all over the park, clearing trash, applying wood sealer to the equipment at Kamalani Playground and removing overgrown vegetation. Others checked in volunteers, ran cool drinking water to thirsty volunteers and coordinated the pau hana shared lunch.
Valerie Saiki of Tobacco-Free Kaua‘i said volunteers on cigarette butt patrol were competing with each other to see who could collect the most.
Once cleared from the beach, Saiki dumped them into a large fish tank to illustrate how many cigarette butts are actually in the park and on the beach.
Charlie Roessler, coalition coordinator at Tobacco-Free Kaua‘i, said he wasn’t shocked by the amount of cigarette butts found on the beach and in the park.
“One of our goals is to make the Lydgate pools smoke-free,” Roessler said. “It’s a family beach for locals and visitors alike.”
Saiki said that the group has already has nearly 1,000 signatures and are now soliciting personal testimonies to present to Kaua‘i’s County Council.
John Lydgate, one of the park’s most devoted caretakers, said the goal of the park cleanup was to “make the island safe, accessible and sparkling.”
“The purpose of having roots is to put forth branches,” Lydgate said. “The branches produce fruit that benefit the community. The ponds, sporting fields and playground are our fruits.”
Lydgate said the park was a mess “in the old days.” But people in the community rallied with the mayor and council to fix it up.
Looking forward, Lydgate said plans for the park include rebuilding the pond and the rock walls that provide safe swimming for the keiki.
“We plan to take out 15 percent of the sand,” Lydgate said. “The pond should be 10 feet deep — it’s only 4 feet deep now.”
The boulders along the rock wall were donated by plantations when the wall was built in 1964.
Kimber Kline, who has been staying on Kaua‘i for the past six weeks, said that even though she has fallen in love with “this beautiful island,” she is upset at how people treat it.
“I came here to paradise only to find that even in paradise there are problems,” Kline said as she picked up cigarette butts. “The more we disrespect the island, the less she will have to give us in the years to come.”
Kline said she encourages those who live here to contribute on some level for the sake of the island.
“Just pick up after yourself,” she said.
As volunteers picked up rubbish, others painted wood sealer on the 15-year-old equipment of Kamalani Playground.
Council member Tim Bynum said the construction of the playground was a way to bring the community together after Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992.
“About 7,000 people worked on this (the playground), and it was done in two weeks,” Bynum said. “It’s a celebration of community.”
Event planner Thomas Noyes said that the next project for the group will be the rebuilding of the Kamalani Pavilion that burned down last year.
The Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park also meet at Lydgate on the first Saturday of each month at 8:30 for beach grooming.
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
