Susan Barr & Brandon Muncy
Kern Valley Sun

The Annual Kern Valley Pride Day sponsored by Thomas Refuse proved once again that there’s a whole lot of garbage out there. But more important, the event showed there are a lot of wonderful people out there willing to put their backs into cleaning up our valley.

The murky waters of Isabella Lake appear cleaner at French Gulch since Saturday morning thanks to divers who trekked from all parts of California to participated in the annual valley-wide Pride Day on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Bob Linkswiler, president of San Joaquin Sport Divers Club in Bakersfield, walks ashore after making an underwater search for trash near French Gulch during Pride Day 2008 on Saturday.

Members of the Kern County Sheriff Search and Rescue Dive Team, San Joaquin Sport Divers Club, the owners of World Aquatic Adventures, a Bakersfield College scuba instructor, and a member of the college's Renegade Scuba Team scoured the bottom of French Gulch for trash and treasures.

“I don't know if there is anything to pick up out there,” joked Search and Rescue member Kermit Atkinson as he suited up in his scuba diving gear. The divers embarked on the underwater journey in which the vision has been described as “complete and total darkness.” With only a small flashlight and compass, trash is still easy to locate.

The items brought from the bottom varied from decades-old beer cans, three anchors, and two submerged lawn chairs. In the past everything from stop signs to car doors have been brought up. The group brought in a respectable 10 bags, much of which would have lingered at the lake bottom had it not been for their efforts.

The team did not only attend to the water of the lake. Many bags of trash were collected by World Aquatic Adventures owner Gwen Parnell and her children Gail, 12, and Mason, 9. They spent the morning scouring over the rocky terrain of French Gulch, grabbing ever speck of trash they could spot.

It’s these folks who make a huge difference and if you check out the amount of trash they accumulatively gathered, you’ll now understand why. A total of 809 people turned out to participate in this year’s event. Representing 54 valley groups, they collected 1,543 bags of trash, weighing in at a combined total of 12,900 pounds. Incredible!

As Linda Thomas of Thomas Refuse said, “This was the best Pride Day yet. It’s wonderful that the event just keeps growing and growing each year. And it was great to see several new groups participating this year.”

The winners of this year’s event were: 1st Place – Nuni Cunni Cultural Center with 369 bags, 2nd Place – Kern River Christian Church with 119 bags and 3rd Place – Kern Valley Exchange Club – with 95 bags. The group with the largest number of volunteers - the Kern River Christian Church “The River” with 71 Volunteers. Congratulations to all of the 2008 Pride Day Winners!  A huge thanks to everyone who gave up some precious weekend time off to be part of this important event. The residents of this valley salute you!