Great Lake Allatoona Clean Up To Feature Music, Food, Expo

This year's installment of the Great Lake Allatoona Clean Up will have some new components to celebrate efforts to keep the lake's shoreline and waters clear of trash and debris.

DJ Will Hale was discovered by one of the GLAC committee members last spring while attending a birthday party and again a few months later at a wedding reception.

“Will’s interaction with the diverse crowd of children, teens, parents and grandparents was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed his music. The dancing never stopped," said Linda Hartsfield. “When I heard this young man perform and saw how the crowd loved him, I realized that the GLAC committee needed him to play for our volunteer Appreciation Picnic.”

The 32nd annual Great Lake Allatoona Clean Up will be held on Saturday, Sept. 30. The GLAC committee’s mission is to work with our partners to lead the Lake Allatoona community in environmental stewardship of the watershed through education, preservation, conservation, and volunteerism.

Over the years, our volunteers have collected tons of trash found along the lake’s shoreline. Every September we find more trash to collect. Please join us for the 32nd annual Clean Up and continue throughout the year to be a steward of our “great resource” to help keep Lake Allatoona healthy and beautiful.

The Clean Up runs from 9 a.m. to noon and is followed by a picnic lunch and Environmental Expo held at Riverside Park Day Use Park in Cartersville. From noon to 2 p.m., the volunteer appreciation picnic lunch will offer free food, music by DJ Will Hale, and more than 16 booths offering information about the lake environment, water safety and conservation.

This year’s Expo participants will include Pettit Wildlife Preserve, Georgia Wildlife Action, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Master Gardeners, Kennesaw State University, area high school science classes and others.

KSU’s presence at the Expo is new this year. Graduate teaching assistant from the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology Linda Braun-Purvis, along with a few of her students, will host a booth about bats.

“Join us and learn about the unique role of bats in our ecosystems, while dismissing misinformation that generates needless fears that threaten bats and their habitats around the world," explains Hartsfield.

Children will be able to participate in fun activities and games, helping them learn why bats are important to the environment and how they keep us healthy. Folks will also learn ways that they can use their backyards to help the environment and bats at the same time. Linda emphasized, “You will look at bats in a way like never before because BATS ARE AWESOME!”

DJ Will Hale will moderate the 32nd Great Lake Allatoona picnic event by providing announcements, speaker introductions and music. Will is a freshman at Georgia Highlands College who has been DJ'ing for about five years.

When asked how he got into this line of work he explains, “I come from a musical family, so after years of experimenting with "classical" instruments, I began producing music and DJing. DJing allows me to share my love and passion for music with everyone around me. I got my first party at a family friend's house, and everything grew from there!”

To participate in this year’s Great Lake Allatoona Clean Up, please register at www.greatallatoonacleanup.org or www.myglac.org.

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