Community Corner
Eagle Scouts Renew Pledge to Help the Earth
Brothers-in-law organizing cleanup of the Raritan River this weekend.
Steven Van Deursen and Joseph David, who see their 30th birthdays in life’s rearview mirror, are doing something that most of us want to do but seldom do — they’re staying true to the ideals and values of their youth.
On Saturday, the two will be conducting a cleanup of a 10-mile stretch of the Raritan River, the longest river within the borders of New Jersey, from Neshanic Station to Raritan Borough.
If that sounds like an Eagle Scout project, it is.
It’s the second Eagle Scout project for Steven and Joseph, who both achieved Boy Scouting’s highest rank when they were teenagers in two New Jersey towns, Somerset and Jackson.
But their paths never crossed until they married two sisters from Hillsborough, Dawn and Dineen Moeller. And the idea to undertake a fresh Eagle Scout project didn’t come to them until last summer when Joseph and Steven, took Steven’s son Evan and their nephew A.J. on a paddling ride on the South Branch of the Raritan River.
”We saw more tires than wildlife,” Joseph said.
That’s how the idea of the river cleanup, a classic Eagle Scout project, came to them. Their goal is to remove 100 tires from the river, along with all the other garbage they’ve already seen in the bucolic river, including a pool cover near the Studdiford Drive bridge in South Branch..
They’ve tackled the challenge with the persistence and perseverance of two Scouts who are trying for the first time to reach Scouting’s top rank. They’ve devoted their spare time to meticulously planning the logistics of the cleanup, coordinating with officials from the municipalities on the banks of the river and spreading their contagious enthusiasm for improving one of the state’s often-forgotten assets.
Steven and Joseph have been heartened by the other people and groups who have committed themselves to the cause on an otherwise lazy Saturday in the middle of summer. The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Honor Society has volunteered and the mission has received support of Duke Farms, the Neshanic Fire Company, the Edison Wetlands Association, the Raritan Headwaters Association and the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative.
The two are also thankful for the support given by Bridgewater Mayor Dan Hayes and environmental commission liaison Chris Poulson, Raritan Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak, Councilwoman Stefanie Gara and environmental commission liaison Liz Horvath.
The towns have offered to take away the tires and other trash. Griggstown Canoe and Kayak Rental is lending six canoes and American Rivers, a national nonprofit conservation organization based in Cinnaminson dedicated to protecting and restoring America's rivers and to fostering river stewardship, has donated 500 trash bags.
The cleanup is divided into six zones with launches at three sites. The cleanup will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the confluence of the Neshanic River and the South Branch of the Raritan River at the Blackpoint Road bridge between Branchburg and Hillsborough. Other launch points are 10 a.m. at the Opie Road bridge between Branchburg and Hillsborough and 11 a.m. at the Sellers Maintenance Building on the western edge of Duke Island Park in Bridgewater near the confluence of the South Branch and the North Branch. While one crew will be in canoes, another crew will be on the banks.
At the end of the cleanup, all the volunteers will gather for a picnic at the Apple Grove Pavilion in Duke Island Park.
Besides protecting the environment, the two have a secondary motive — spreading a much-needed message about the positive aspects of Boy Scouting, an organization they admit that has lost some of its luster and public standing in recent years.
”Boy Scouting really does have a great impact,” Joseph said.
For more information about the cleanup, Just 2 Eagle Scouts doing a South Branch / Raritan River Clean-Up Project, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/100tires.
Joseph and Dawn, who were active in green causes in California and now live in Montclair, said they hope someday to move near the river.
”It’s beautiful,” he said.
