LSPOA Volunteers Fan Out to Cleanup John Ringling Parkway

LSPOA Cleanup Crew ready to take on John Ringling Parkway Saturday morning

John Ringling has never really been a pristine Parkway.  Slicing through a spit of land surrounded by Sarasota Bay, Pansy Bayou and the Gulf, it's traversed between St. Armand's and Longboat Key by thousands of vehicles daily. 

And ever since Helene and Milton roared through...  the well traveled route has frankly never been shabbier.  LSPOA Board VP and Secretary Erika Ivanyi decided it was time to take matters into our own hands.  Erika spearheaded Saturday's (January 11th) John Ringling Parkway cleanup effort.  

Erika Ivanyi and Denis Bischoff handing out work gloves and trash bags to volunteers

An impressive number of like minded Lido-Shorians... nearly 50 of us... turned out on an overcast and chilly morning, deployed from the Pansy Bayou bridge to the south all the way to the entrance of Ken Thompson Park to the north. Armed with 50-gallon black trash bags, work gloves and rakes, they stooped and picked up junk.  Lot's of it.  A small fleet of golf carts ferried neighbors, large debris and full bags of trash up and down both sides of the parkway.

Plastic water bottles, discarded flip flops, construction materials, kayak oars, alcohol containers of all shapes and sizes and even a laminated Marina Jack menu were plucked from the sides of the roadway.  A couple of neighbors helped trim loose and jagged tree limbs and branches... while others, like Karen Byles concentrated on picking up a smaller, but equally irksome throwaway... countless cigarette butts.  

It all adds up.  Amazing what dozens of hands can accomplish in just two-hours.  You can see the evidence piled up outside of Dennis Bischoff's backyard along the Parkway, just south of the Westway Place entrance.  Denis worked with the CCNA (Coalition of City Neighbor Associations) to coordinate a separate city trash pickup to haul it all away this week.

Afterward, Erika and spouse Matthias Schubnel hosted a post clean-up gathering at their home at 1354 Westway.  A master chef, Matthias served up his exceptional flatbread pizza... and his German heritage inspired frankfurters on warm pretzel rolls.  Warm Mulled, spiced wine and desserts topped off the generous spread. 

The morning work details paid off.  At least for now, the landscape on either side of the pavement looks vastly better.  Our last LSPOA cleanup effort was back in 2017.  Hopefully we can make this an annual effort.

Many thanks to those who turned out.

Bob Thill

LSPOA Communications