Revelers, Volunteers Converge at Beach

As a record-breaking 18,000 people gathered at one end of Ventura’s oceanfront promenade Saturday for the California Beach Party, a small crew of environmentally conscious volunteers battled a rising tide of trash at the other.

About 30 people turned up at San Buenaventura State Beach to salvage society’s detritus from the sand and surf. It was one of more than two dozen sites around the county where more than 600 garbage gatherers collected more than 11,000 pounds of trash during the 12th annual Coastal Cleanup Day.

Prodded into heightened environmental awareness by their oceanography class at Camarillo High School, juniors Cory Jones, Sarah Newton and Christine Hook each grabbed a blue plastic trash bag and started scanning the sand.

“It surprised us how dirty the beaches really are,” Christine said.

In places, the beach appeared to resemble a giant ashtray.

“We picked up over 230 cigarette butts,” said 13-year-old Tina Allen of Ventura.

Volunteers also took part in inland cleanup, operating on the assumption that trash in creeks and riverbeds will eventually end up in the ocean.

About 100 volunteers collected 1,000 pounds of trash from Arroyo Conejo in Newbury Park, said coordinator Kathleen Wiens. The take included a horse saddle, a pair of Calvin Klein shorts and a pornographic movie.

“We dug out an old grocery cart from Daisy Farms, which hasn’t been in business for about 15 years,” she said. “One person came in with seven [trash] bags that weighed 45 pounds.”

Stephanie Swain, 36, pitched in with her environmentally aware daughter Catherine, 8, who single-handedly hauled a shopping cart and bicycle from the creek.

“That’s not nice,” Catherine said of her haul. “The fishes could get stuck in it.”

Countywide, there were fewer volunteers than last year, but the amount of trash collected was up, cleanup coordinator Jessica Craven said.

Among the 11,559 pounds of trash collected were four dead seals, a dead otter, three dead birds--one with fishing twine around its neck and oil-soiled feathers--a solar shower and even a car hauled from the Santa Clara River.

Meanwhile, at the beach party, Surfrider Foundation members handed out garbage bags to volunteers while members of the Ventura High wrestling team prowled the promenade picking up litter. This was the first year the two events were held on the same day.

“There’s trash cans on each end of these [planters], and people just throw it on the ground, dude,” said senior Jason Byrd. “They can’t walk 5 feet.”

But only 18 volunteers were willing to grab a trash bag at the festival, Surfrider Foundation President Brian Brennan said.

“People don’t want to pay $5 to clean up,” he said.

Still, the efforts were apparently having an effect on visitors.

“I’ve received comments that people like that it’s clean,” said a survey-taking Millie Matz, director of sales and marketing with the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau. “They like the visibility of police and people going around cleaning up.”

The festival continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.