Community members once again came together to work on cleaning up Clearwater’s Nixon Lake beach and boat landing after the removal of a floating bog in July.

Originally located on the south side of the lake directly across from the public access/swimming beach, the bog broke free last fall due to high water and floated around the lake until it made its way to the lake’s public access in early June, blocking the swimming beach and boat landing entirely.

Clearwater Twp., which manages the access, had the approximately 500’ x 150’ bog removed, however, the process resulted in a massive debris pile, and left behind muck and more debris along the shore and in the water directly in front of the access.

Last Saturday, Clearwater Twp. Board Member Scott Miller and township residents Blayne Leuthard and Tom Schwartz went to the access to experiment with using a gas-powered commercial trash pump and a boat motor to force the loose debris out into the lake away from shore.

Word spread, and soon Twp. Chairman Bill Langenbacker and Treasurer Cassie Kenning, along with volunteer community members of all ages, had joined them, using metal rakes and pitchforks to remove the larger pieces of debris.

Although their combined efforts were declared a success and much of the debris was removed, there is still a lot more to be done. Continued cleanup efforts will be ongoing.

A week earlier the massive debris pile that covered the entire parking lot was removed, hauled away and spread over a local farmer’s field.