For the second year running, community volunteers gathered to help clean up Lightning Brook — a tributary of the Elizabeth River that runs along the eastern edge of Maplewood and loosely follows the route behind Jacoby Street and Boyden Avenue into Union County.
Often overshadowed by the Rahway River tributary that runs through Maplewood Memorial Park, Lightning Brook has garnered attention of late with the cleanup.
Former Mayor and current Township Committee member Vic De Luca wrote about the cleanup on the Hilton Neighborhood Association’s Facebook group this weekend:
Tropical Storm Ophelia could not stop us today. We had a successful 2nd Annual Clean-Up of the Lightning Brook. This year, we worked along 44th Street, off of Jacoby Street.
The event was sponsored by the Hilton Neighborhood Association, with assistance from the Maplewood Environmental Advisory Committee. We gathered all this trash in 90 minutes of pouring rain.
Thanks to members of Columbia High School’s Environmental Club and the Ultimate Frisbee team; students from Seton Hall Prep; my colleagues on the Township Committee – Mayor Dean Dafis and Committeewoman Nancy Adams; Mary & Jeff Boehner, Kat Alexander and John Sullivan from the HNA; and Bob McCoy & Jonathan Poor from the Environmental Committee.
Join us in September 2024 for the next clean-up!
