On Saturday, April 13, Save the Great South Bay hosted its annual spring cleanup in Bayport as part of the island-wide Creek Defender Program that is responsible for 50 locations.

Bob Draffin, Bayport’s Creek Defender and longtime president of the Bayport Civic Association, and volunteers dedicated the event to Draffin’s community-beloved wife, Janet, who recently died.

Janet had headed up the Bayport Junior Civic since its inception in 2014 and inspired young members of the community to get involved, even years after her own children had graduated from BBP.

“This past weekend, a wonderful gathering of bay-conscious volunteers helped clean up over 500 pounds of debris in and around Bayport Beach and Homan’s Creek. While several community groups were represented, I was especially proud of the BBP Junior Civic members who came out to honor my wife Janet’s memory by preventing that debris from polluting our bay,” said Draffin.

With about two-dozen volunteers, 500 pounds of debris was cleared out, resulting in over 30 trash bags.

Some larger items included a bar stool, a bed frame, and what Draffin described as “the proverbial car tire.”

Volunteers from the First National Bank were also on hand to help the Civic and Junior Civic.

“Creeks are the lifeblood of Long Island,” said a representative of Save the Great South Bay. “The bay will only be as healthy as the creeks and rivers that flow into it. There are some 50 creeks that flow into the bay along the 16 communities along the South Shore.”

The Creek Defender Program calls upon people in each of those communities to become local stewards, i.e., healing the community’s creeks.

Creek Defenders typically handle organizing and guiding their communities, leading cleanups, habitat restoration projects, and native planting initiatives.

Save the Great South Bay depends on Creek Defenders to spread the message that that the bay begins on the land, and the quality of that water entering the bay.

Tom Kain, the Creek Defender chairperson and former president of the Bay Shore Rotary Club, described himself as a “lifelong lover of our oceans, sounds, beaches, bays, canals, lakes, ponds, rivers and creeks.”

“Defending our creeks has to be fun, educational, and rewarding for everyone involved. There is so much more that can be done, and we are only scratching the surface so far…  people want to help; our role is to organize it all,” said Kain.