Cindy Kelly and Sarah Boyle take a break from collecting trash for a selfie.
Some candidates, such as Sair Lara, brought their families to participate.
A large raft buried in the bushes was just one of the pieces of debris found during the cleanup.
Merced Mayor Matt Serratto (left) mingles with other candidates and voters during the Bear Creek cleanup.
The Bear Creek Yacht Club is flexible in determining what constitutes a yacht.
Candidates on the Creek gave local candidates the opportunity to get involved in serving their community.
In a cleanup of this magnitude, collective strength is essential.
The cleanup efforts extended beyond Bear Creek into the park areas.
Merced City Council member Sarah Boyle arrived in style, wearing her very own Times hat.
State Rep. Esmeralda Soria (right) attended the event to show her support for the work of the Bear Creek Yacht Club.
Last Saturday, local political candidates were seen wearing safety vests as they gathered in solidarity for a community cleanup event aptly called “Candidates on the Creek.”
The event was hosted by the Bear Creek Yacht Club, a misleadingly named nonprofit that organizes regular cleanups along the city of Merced’s largest waterway. The yachts are actually kayaks, which some participants use to access the trash that has accumulated at the water’s edge.
“We’re basically an organization that tries to revitalize and restore Bear Creek within the city limits of Merced and then other waterways throughout the county,” said Jeremiah Greggains, the club’s vice president. “We do this through public events. We do a cleanup every two months, even-numbered months, on the second Saturday for two hours from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. We call it the Crew 2-2-2: second Saturday of the second month for two hours.”
The club was founded in 2021 and has since pulled nearly 100 tons of trash from the creek. Saturday’s event alone collected over 2,300 pounds of trash, including everything from the usual suspects like cigarette butts to car tires and flattened river rafts.
“Candidates on the Creek was really about bringing our current and future leaders to the creek to see what is actually happening with water quality, homeless issues,
just the trash and pollution coming through our waterways,” Greggains said. “A lot of people don’t realize that the water that flows through Bear Creek in the summer is actually irrigation water and that water goes directly to our farms. So when it goes directly to our farms, it goes directly into our food supply.”
The club held its first candidate event at the creek during the last election cycle and welcomed two candidates in addition to many community members. This year the number of candidates rose to double digits, with a total of 63 people in attendance.
Regulars from Bear Creek Yacht Club and members of Merced Walks (a frequent collaborator) showed up to get to work. A host of local leaders (some of whom are seeking re-election) and officials came to the event, including State Rep. Esmeralda Soria, Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo, Merced Mayor Matt Serratto, Merced City Councilmember Sarah Boyle, Merced City School District Trustee Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell, Merced County CEO Raul Mendez, Merced County Deputy CEO Mark Hendrickson and Merced City Manager Scott McBride.
The event featured several new candidates vying for a seat on the Merced City Council, including Mike Harris, Darin DuPont, Cindy Kelly, Walter Smith, Sair Lara, Felipe Rojas-Flores and Alex Carrillo.
Audrea Tuhn, who is running for a seat on the Merced City School District, was in attendance, as was Kalisa Rochester, who is running for a seat on the Atwater City Council.
There were orange safety vests, garbage grabbers and garbage bags, as well as donuts as a reward for the hard work of all participants.
The Bear Creek Yacht Club continues to grow and is exploring membership options and ways to improve the sustainability of its efforts, such as switching from traditional trash bags to recycled onion bags from local restaurants. Anyone interested in participating in the next cleanup can visit the club’s website at bearcreekyachtclub.org.
