2011 Barb Breckler Memorial Maumee River Sweep

The ‘The Barb Breckler Annual Maumee River Shoreline Sweep’ was held Saturday June 18, 2011.  This is the 28th year for this event.  A beautiful day was enjoyed by all for this yearly event. Over 25 people gathered at Independence Dam State Park Marina at 8:30 a.m. Groups were assigned to do a shoreline pick up from the shore, from boats patrolling close to shore.

Tim Houck, event coordinator and Director of Defiance County Environmental Services, reported that co-sponsors of the event were McDonald’s-North Restaurant, Kissner’s, Defiance County Environmental Services, Coast Guard Power Squadron and the Fort Defiance Boat & Ski Club. The Correction Center of Northwest Ohio’ public work’s program and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Independence Dam State Park provided workers to assist in the litter collection.  Kissner’s and McDonald’s restaurants donated food and drink. This event is part of the Solid Waste District's Management Plan.  We thank ALL of the sponsor’s for their participation and contribution to this event!

The Maumee River is an important part of our Defiance County community. This event is an important element in both environmental education and litter collection. The river sweep is a fun event, but many local citizens and groups participate in keeping the shores of the Maumee cleaned up regularly.  This year's event collected over 2 ton of debris which was properly disposed into the Defiance county landfill.

A message from Anna Breckler…
It has been a little over three years since my mother, Barb Breckler, passed away from terminal cancer.  Though it is never easy losing a loved one, my family has been extremely fortunate to have this time of year to celebrate and remember by mother because of two amazing events that I hope will bring a lot of participation this year.  I wrote about these events the first year after my mother passed away and I still feel now, how I did them: proud and excited.  I have found that celebrating and remembering lost loved ones has extreme healing powers and there is nothing more I enjoy than being around people who knew my Mom and have great memories with her, that they share with me…

The Barb Breckler family:  Anna Breckler, Mike & Cathy Johnson and girls (Barb’s granddaughters) also are avid supporters of the Defiance County Relay for Life events.