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   Last Fall my son took his Family to a public lake access in Northern Cass County, for a day of Nature fun. They had previously made a tee-pee out of brushes and sticks and planned to complete it. A yummy picnic and a nature scavenger hunt was also on their agenda. The fun and learning had begun; until a blood-curdling scream interrupted this tranquil scene! Their four year old had ran to the lake and stepped on a discarded broken glass bottle. Blood poured out of this little foot. Mom and Dad ran to quickly render aid. Her brother and sister stood in horror! Traumatized! With great urgency the family quickly took this terrified blood dripping four year old to the hospital. There she got 13 stitches in her tiny foot. A friend went to the landing to retrieve the families’s personal items. While she gathered what was left of the families’s fun, she found a jagged glass beer bottle with blood still on it. No mistake about it, this horrible discovery put the blame on a careless litterbug! Because of this persons appalling disregard for others; had tossed a glass that inflicted a four year  old’s painful suffering, a families nature day shattered and to wonder, why? From the earliest of age, these children were taught to gather trash and put it where it belongs. Our four year old continued her journey of suffering painfully at the hands of a irresponsible, disrespectful, polluter. She was unable to go to her pre-school for weeks, unable to walk, a hospital stay for an operation, more stitches, more pain, x-rays, lab tests, sleepless nights, more medication, countless appointments, and heart breaking missed events she was unable to attend and seeing her friends going to school and play.

   Please, I appeal to each of you to be mindful of keeping our resource as we find them. I have found trash at every lake landing I have gone to, and gathered that unwanted trash and brought it home to be disposed of. An easy task that anyone can do and may save a fun day for someone. 

   I talked with the DNR about this. Their empathy was heart warming. Unfortunately, they are unable to prevent people’s bad habits. We can do this together, I want to challenge each of you to pick up the first piece of trash you find at a lake access and put it where it belongs. Keep our resources clean.

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