ORANGE — Some people in town have decided to view the Millers River as a glass half full.
The water level has been temporarily lowered so Mini-Watt Hydroelectric, which has a power generator off West River Street and is owned by a corporation of the same name with a Holyoke mailing address, can rehabilitate its dam. There had been concern that the plan could disrupt Orange’s summer tourism business, but others have decided to seize an opportunity and remove debris revealed due to the water’s lowering.
The North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau has teamed with the Orange Lions Club and area paddler Jerry Whaland to organize the “Deliver for Our River” cleanup day for the Millers River from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Sponsorship opportunities include food or donations to buy food for the volunteers, Dumpsters, tools and other necessities. The event can be followed on Facebook at: bit.ly/29KXTxp
Mark Wright, executive director of the chamber of commerce, said there have been clean-up days in the past, but this is the first one organized by the chamber.
“It’s somewhat of a silver lining spin. We were kind of caught off-guard with the level-lowering. We knew it would happen at some point, but we only had about a week and a half to plan this,” Wright said. “The objective is to take people down to the river. Even with the level-lowering, it still very paddleable. There’s a ton of flora and fauna that normally isn’t visible. Riverbeds are exposed, there’s beavers, otters, herons.”
Whaland, an Orange native who drives 20 minutes from Hubbardston to paddle, said he was able to canoe upstream a mile and a half the day the water was lowered. He said the Millers was wildly polluted when he was growing up and he wants to ensure that is never repeated.
“If we don’t get out there while the water’s low and the shore is soft, we’re not getting this stuff for another 30 years,” he said.
Call 978-249-3849 to volunteer to be a sponsor.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 258.
On Twitter: @DomenicPoli