Residents of Davidson, Rowan to clean High Rock Lake
SOUTHMONT — In 1822, the state legislature
carved out a piece of Rowan County to
form Davidson County.
Two-hundred years later, the two counties’
residents and businesses come together annually
to clean High Rock Lake, which binds the
two with more than 300 miles of shoreline.
The annual High Rock Lake CleanSweep will
take place from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16.
This is the only lake event that encompasses
both Davidson and Rowan counties for a collaborative
effort.
This year, HRLCleanSweep will serve as the
official kickoff event for Rowan and Davidson
County Creek Weeks. High Rock Lake is the
second largest lake in the state.
A few years ago, Shane Graham and Barry
Childers, who both grew up on the lake, wanted
to revive the lake clean sweep from their youth,
a community effort that was held annually. The
two men, now local business owners on their
respective sides of the lake, have personal experience
with items floating along the shoreline
and ending up in desolate coves or homeowners’
properties.
“With such a beautiful natural resource in our
literal backyards, it is imperative that we rally all
the stakeholders to make sure it’s here for generations
to come,” said Graham, president of
the HRLCleansweep Committee and owner of
three Domino’s restaurants in Davidson County.
Homeowners associations, Scout troops and
dozens of individuals, including those who do
not live on the lake but have enjoyed it for years,
are invited to come out to
the wildlife access ramp to
receive supplies and identify
the site where they preferred
to work. To inquire
about service hours for your
group, email info@HRLcleansweep.
org. Students
will walk away with a signed
certificate with the number
of hours they participated.
The lake is formed by the
High Rock Damn on the
Yadkin River, and it feeds
into Badin and Tillery lakes.
The lake serves as a major
recreational outlet for people
across the state to boat,
water-bike, swim, fish and
more.
The dam catches most
of the larger debris from
all the communities upriver,
from footballs and drink
cans to flip flops and even
pieces of docks. Drink cans
and bottles are two of the
most common items pulled
from the water during Clean
Sweep, Graham said.
“What’s truly needed and
what we are working on
with the state for grant and
money is to do something to
keep all that trash thrown in
upriver from reaching High
Rock Lake,” Graham said.
As a longtime volunteer
during High Rock Clean
Sweep, Graham is no longer
surprised by what the volunteers
pull out of the lake. He
has seen refrigerators, freezers,
tractor-trailer wheels
on the hub, ladders from
above-ground pools and
18-foot-wide feeding troughs
for farm animals.
“And every year, we seem
to pull out a boat that sunk
at some time,” he added.
The High Rock Lake
CleanSweep committee
board members are volunteer
leaders Graham,
Childers, AnnMarie Clark,
Toni Wooten-Wright, Karen
Baldwin, Edgar Miller, Jeff
Swing and Joyce Caron-Mercier.
With two clean-up/collection
access points on the
lake, volunteers can use the
N.C. Wildlife Access ramps
at Bringle Ferry Road, Salisbury
or Highway 8 Southmont
for supply pick-up and
debris drop-off at the end of
the day.
In addition to the necessary
clean-up supplies,
volunteers will receive free
T-shirts and lunch.
The 2022 cleanup effort
resulted in the army of
“clean sweepers” removing
4,560 pounds of trash on the
Rowan side and and 3,040
pounds from the Davidson
side.
This year, the group is
using Lexington’s Media
Placement Services, an
agency that came to High
Rock Clean Sweep organizers
with ideas on how to
increase the event’s reach
through social media, banner
ads, a new website
http://www.hrlcleansweep.
org and an email for inquiries,
info@hrlcleansweep.
org.
Graham said he hopes
the thousands of people liking
the social media posts
will turn out Saturday. Prior
to the COVID-19 pandemic,
the annual cleanup attracted
abiut 65 volunteers, and the
number has decreased.
Edgar Miller, executive
director of Yadkin Riverkeeper
and a Davidson
County native, said the
cleanup effort is something
that should take place year
round.
“We have several events
throughout the year, including
bridge and river cleanups
on Earth Day in April
and Rowan Creek Week,
among others,” Miller said,
“all to keep our lakes and
the river trash-free.”
The Yadkin Riverkeeper
organizes a group of kayakers
to paddle into the various
coves on the Davidson
County side for additional
access onto smaller areas
that may hold debris.
The fifth annual Rowan
Creek Week will take place
Sept. 16-23 in conjunction
with the annual HRLClean-
Sweep. Davidson County
will also celebrate Creek
Week. In collaboration
with multiple environmental
organizations and local
municipal departments,
Creek Week offers recreational,
educational, and
volunteer opportunities to
allow everyone to enjoy and
contribute to healthy waters
in our area.
Article Originaly Written by Jill Doss-Raines for The Dispatch