From Small Steps to Big Leaps, Wiscasset Area Volunteers Clear Pollutants from Peeper Habitat

A small wetland area in Wiscasset is a cleaner, healthier habitat for spring peepers and other wildlife thanks to a group of volunteers who saw an issue and took action.

A photo posted to the Wicked Good Wiscasset Facebook page on March 21 showed a vernal pool located next to the Shaw’s Supermarket at 670 Bath Road. Loose trash floated on the surface of the water. Plastic bags were tangled in the branches of surrounding trees.

“I’ll volunteer to break out my hip boots, and even buy the trash bags, if anyone would be interested in helping clear it out,” Sam Caton said in the accompanying post.

Caton and his brother Tom Caton, both of Woolwich, are regular shoppers at Shaw’s and after securing permission from the supermarket, they showed up on March 29 with a small group that included Wicked Good Wiscasset administrators Julee Ketelhut and Loretta Morse Leighton. Armed with rakes, gloves, and garbage bags, they spent several hours clearing the pond and surrounding woods of litter.

Shaw’s Store Director Michael Hill said he was initially taken aback when the Catons proposed the cleanup. He said the store’s regular landscaping crew keeps the property mowed and the parking lot well maintained throughout the year and completes a thorough seasonal cleanup once the risk of snow is over.

However, that cleanup had not yet happened and Hill said he was happy to have the volunteers begin the process and very impressed by the end results of their efforts.

“They jumped right in and got it done before our team even got out there to do it,” he said.

According to Hill, the property, which is leased by Shaw’s from Arizona-based Coinstar Asset Holding LLC, has challenges that make it difficult to keep litter from impacting the pond.

The parking lot slopes in a way that causes surface runoff to drain into the marshy area, bringing trash and cigarette butts with it. Wind blows more litter from the street that gets trapped in the reeds and rushes. Until the snow melts, it can be hard to assess the state of the pond and its immediate surroundings.

Ketelhut and Leighton were thrilled at the enthusiastic response they saw from members of their Facebook group.

“It’s really neat to be able to use the community page for good,” Leighton said.

That good had an impact beyond aesthetics. With the cleanup timed to the breeding season for spring peepers, it provided a more welcoming environment for young frogs.

For Sam Caton that was the most important benefit.

“They have more of a chance to survive,” he said. “Everything’s stacked against them. They really need all the help they can get.”

The entire experience was fascinating, Ketelhut said.

“I’ve just gone down the rabbit hole,” she said. “I’ve always loved frogs, I mean, they’re cute, but I never really got that scientifically into it until this whole pond cleanup.”

It even inspired her to become involved with Maine Big Night, a nonprofit that helps amphibians safely cross roadways during their annual migration in spring.

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“I probably kissed a lot of them,” Leighton, who grew up in Woolwich, said about her relationship with frogs.

Looking back she recalled catching tadpoles with her siblings “but, you know, I kind of left frogs behind in my childhood,” she said.

Wading around the pond brought her back to that time.

“It was just really fun to flop around in the water and collect trash,” she said.

According to Ketelhut, the group removed plastic bags, cigarette butts, paper, dryer sheets, and a full-size ceramic toilet from an RV.

“We loaded seven bags of trash,” she said.

Projects like this help Sam Caton combat feeling powerless about issues like climate change and global warming.

“It’s something you can do,” he said.

He hopes that people might be inspired by the pond cleanup to respond to litter in their own neighborhood, to perhaps take a walk with their kids and a garbage bag,

“If enough people did that, it would make a huge difference,” he said.

Tom Caton still remembers the widely viewed anti-littering ads of his youth, the “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” and the “Pitch in!” public service announcements that aired in the 1970s.

He said that despite the number of groups focused on ecological issues, he no longer sees the powerful overarching messaging that marked the early days of the environmental movement.

None of the cleanup crew is placing blame or looking for scapegoats. They recognize the pervasive nature of pollution and the need for an ongoing response.

“The people that run Shaw’s and work there, they’re all locals. They’re all our friends and family,” Ketelhut said.

Work days for employees are focused on serving customers inside the building while an outside company maintains the exterior.

Regarding suggestions to contact corporate offices and landowners about the issues, Ketelhut has a different take.

“If you see a problem, take care of the problem,” she said. “It’s not about passing the buck to somebody else, you know? And we got so much satisfaction with doing it ourselves.”

Leighton agreed.

“It’s like a great reminder for me that somebody has to take the first step to make a difference,” she said.

Ketelhut said she also sees the cleanup as a small way to thank the staff for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If we can just get our hands dirty and roll up our sleeves for a few hours and make such a big difference, why wouldn’t we?” she said.

Based on the response to the project online, Ketelhut expects to see more and more shoppers taking a minute while they’re at the grocery store to help maintain the pond and its surroundings.

For the Caton brothers, the pond will be an ongoing project on Saturday mornings and anytime they come to Shaw’s and see litter starting to creep back in.

“We’re going to pull out a garbage bag and take a few minutes and do what we can,” Sam Caton said. He encourages others to do the same.

So do Ketelhut and Leighton.

“This is not going to be a one-time thing for the Wicked Good Wiscasset Page,” Ketelhut said. “We’re all looking for the next great cleanup.”

For everyone who supported the project, hearing the frogs come to life in the evening, whether in person or in videos posted to Facebook, never gets old.

“I can’t begin to tell you how many people have commented now,” Leighton said. “The peepers are in full force … you can just hear the chorus getting louder and louder and louder.”

(Bisi Cameron Yee is a freelance photojournalist and reporter based in Nobleboro. To contact her, email cameronyeephotography@gmail.com.)