Newport Beach : Harbor Cleanup Project Scheduled Next Saturday

Residents can help to make the harbor a nicer place to to swim and cruise by participating in next Saturday’s “Clean Harbor Day.”.

Under the direction of the Marine Division of the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce, the four-hour event will commence at 8 a.m. with a fleet of boats scouring the waterway for all manner of flotsam and jetsam.

Organizers say the entire harbor will be divided into several zones, with each zone divided into smaller areas under the direction of captains who will oversee the collection and disposal of trash.

Volunteers are needed for the cleanup project. Participants should report to the Cannery Restaurant dock at 8 a.m. Saturday armed with rakes and gloves and clad in appropriate attire. Boat owners willing to volunteer their craft are also needed, said Bill Hamilton, one of the event’s organizers.

Although keeping the harbor litter-free may be its own reward, volunteers will be fed free hotdogs at the Cannery restaurant following completion of the cleanup project.

“It’s the fifth year that we’ve been doing this,” Hamilton said, “The work’s all over by noon and the party’s over by 2, so it doesn’t ruin your weekend.”