Submitted by saleemthedream on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 15:14.
Shiga Earth Day Clean-up Cup is RAINED-OUT!
When:
Saturday, 25 April 2009 - 10:00am
Where:
Nagahama - Hokoen
Signups:
5 total (5 members and 0 guests)
Event Description (Show/Hide full description)
Shiga Earth Day Clean-up Cup 2009
Sponsored by BEE Japan (www.beejapan.org)
THE SHIGA EARTH DAY CLEAN-UP CUP 2009 WILL BE POSTPONED TO DUE CLIMACTIC WEATHER! PLEASE BE ADVISED AND TELL ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO WAS PLANNING ON COMING TOMORROW! The worst has happened, and tomorrow's weather forecast shows 90% chance of cold rain, thunder, strong winds, basically any event planner's worst nightmare. I don't want to risk anyone's safety, and I'm not naive enough to believe that anyone would want to show up in these conditions anyhow, so we are postponing the event temporarily. WE WILL TRY TO RESCHEDULE THE EVENT FOR A DAY TBD AFTER GOLDEN WEEK. I WILL KEEP EVERYONE POSTED.
As many JET vets may remember, last year we pulled off a pretty darn successful clean-up clean-up of the Biwako shoreline in Nagahama (adjacent to the park where we always have BBQs). The result: 33 bags of trash (including soccer balls, Styrofoam, bottles of hazardous chemicals, batteries, and for a dash of irony—a trash can). I’ve used this 2008 clean-up in Powerpoint presentations at my schools and gotten a lot of positive feedback––this year some my students want to participate!
So at Kyle’s suggestion, I think this year we can vamp things up by having not just a boring-old clean-up, but a clean-up contest: enter SHIGA CLEAN-UP CUP!!!
THE DETAILS!
When: Saturday, April 25th
Where: Nagahama, Hokoen
Time: Check-in begins at 11am--the early bird gets the worm, right? Really, whenever you can join us is cool, but the sooner you can get started the better chances you have a winning a cool prize!
THE PLAN!
-Apply in teams of about 3-4 people.
-Show up at Nagahama eki at 11am sharp! We will provide you with some gunte (gloves), bags, hopefully metal tongs (if we can work out something with the Nagahama Shiyakusho).
-Let’s cleaning Nagahama. Anywhere is fair game, but for those who really want to go for Michael Phelps-water-pipe-8-gold-medals-GOLD, I suggest the shoreline. There’s no end to the gomi that washes ashore there (***warning, there really is no telling what you may find there, however. Last year we uncovered various stages of decaying animal carcasses, and stories of cadavers washing ashore have also been reported in other parts of Biwa)
-Rendezvous at 1pm at the usual ShigaJET BBQ Pavillion
THE PRIZES
1st place: 10,000円 cash prize!
Other awards for -1) BIGGEST GOMI & 2) MOST SURPRISING GOMI (pictures will suffice, please don't hurt yourself trying to haul in anything too outrageous (and Nagahama Castle does not count!)
****THE RULES*****
I forgot to post this originally, but TRASH FROM HOME WILL NOT BE COUNTED--家庭ゴミはアカン！
I'll be distributing bags when you check-in, so don't try any funny stuff!
THE FEE!
-500 yen/person
THE POST BYOBBQ:
BEE Japan promotes vegetarianism and supporting local business, however, I realize that not everybody is a vegetarian. Therefore, we will be using AJET grills for a BYOBBQ after the events. There is a Heiwado just on the opposite side of Nagahama eki with a stock of local specialties (meibutsu) where you can buy food to throw on the grill, and I'll look up to see if there are any local markets in the area. Charcoal and other starters will be provided.
THE VOLUNTEERS:
If anyone doesn’t want to get their hands dirty in the Clean-up Cup, we could really use volunteers to help set-up the grills for the BBQ. Please contact me at salemwillard@gmail.com.
Like last year, I’m going to invite Shiga’s Governor Kada to join us—maybe this year she’ll take us up on the offer. I also have some press contacts with BEE, so I’m hoping we can get some coverage for the papers. I will also be contacting the Nagahama Shiyakusho, so if anyone has any contacts (co-workers, arresting officers, etc), please let me know!
The event is open to anyone who wants to join, pick up trash, BBQ, however, participants will not be eligable for the prize if they do not contribute to the 500yen entrance fee. If you just feel like heading out the morning of the event, that's cool. Team names, uniforms, mascots, flags, theme songs, idols--are all strongly encouraged! Let's have a good time while we kick that garbage in the be-hind and be-kind to our be-autiful Mother Earth!
Hope to see everyone on April 25th!
Peace,
Salem
teamcaptain@beejapan.org
BEE Japan 2009 Ride Team Captain
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Discussion and Q and A
I hope you don't mind if we piggyback touch rugby practice during/after the BBQ.
EDIT: Also, is 2 hours long enough? It seems like we started earlier last year. I wouldn't mind something like 10-1, but that's up to you.
Have you talked to the CIRs at the Nagahama City Hall?
decaying creatures and rugby. sounds like a hardcore saturday. im in!
good point justin about the time...we did start earlier last year (and actually the reason for that was because I piggy-fronted on rugby practice, thank you for returning the favor:-)
I will be getting there early anyway to get organized and set-up, so we can move the time up no problem. if people want to get a head-start on the cleaning maddess at 10 at a chance to get that 10,000 prize--power to ya! But there's really no end to the check-in time, where I'll collect money and give out bags & gloves, maps, etc... but the sooner you can get started the better chances of winning!
Taschi, very good suggestion, but I have admit that I'm completely ignorant of who the Nagahama CIRs are (I haven't been out in a while!) If anyone knows please save me the embarrassment and email me salemwillard@gmail.com
peace,
salem
Sorry to keep making changes, but I think you might like some of these:
Other awards for -1) BIGGEST GOMI & 2) MOST SURPRISING GOMI (pictures will suffice, please don't hurt yourself trying to haul in anything too outrageous (and Nagahama Castle does not count!)
****THE RULE*****
I forgot to post this originally, but TRASH FROM HOME WILL NOT BE COUNTED--家庭ゴミはアカン！
I'll be distributing bags when you check-in, so don't try any funny stuff!
My ECC club boys are putting a team together for the event! You guys better watch out--they're hungry for that prize money (and possibly decaying animals)! Any other school teams in the works? Post again when I find out they're team name!
Hey Salem, how did you get your school to approve them coming out? Or are they doing it on the DL?
Yo K-dog,
I didn't think it needed to be on the DL...but either way we had the parents call and let our ECC teacher know it's ok that they participate. That's also what we did here when Yusuke came on the Lake Biwa ride last September. Since it's a volunteer event, I don't know if it matters. I just wanted to make sure the kids had parental approval in case something happened.
Also, since it's not technically a school function, the kids don't need to wear their seifuku (I believe). give those uniforms a rest for a day! :-)
peace,
salem
Huh, I guess it just depends on the JTE advising the club then. I suggested it to the JTE here and she flat out said no :( Maybe we'll stage a mutiny.
Yeah, my JTE is pretty relaxed, so long as she doesn't have to necessarily take part. Understandable, she's got two 小学生 kids of her own she needs to spend time with on the weekends. strange thing about teaching, depending on the person and country I suppose, is that you spend more time with other people's kids than your own...
anyway, I fully support a mutiny! I'll call Cap'm Jack Sparrow (oh no, Nate's gone!!!! pour one for the homies:-(
We meet again in I think two weeks so I'll see what I can pull off then >:)
bttt
kyle, is bttt good news or bad? "bountiful telegraphs of toodles and tallyhoes"? that's my guess...
also,
Don't know who reads the Yomiuriしが県民情報, but we got some made front-page coverage for this Earth Day clean-up event on the 25th!! Thanks to reporter Muguchi-san, I've gotten a few emails today from random people who saw the article and want to participate! this means the stakes are raised from those top prizes! hope to see everyone out there! I'll put it up here tomorrow and on the BEE site once I scan it at school.
So will we be beginning at Nagahama Station or somewhere in Hokoen like we did last year?
I'll be meeting everyone at the station to collect participation fee and hand out maps, gloves, trash bags, etc, beforing turning everyone loose on the lake. anywhere's fair game, but if you're going for gold I recommend shoreline!
That way people can get started anytime after 10 they want, and if people want to sleep and start a little later around 11 or so they're of course welcome whenever they want to join in!
Any teams in the making? The "gomi-gobblers" or "trash-talking tanukis"?
looking forward to seeing everyone saturday!
I'm going as a free agent, as I imagine many people are. If we're supposed to join teams, I'll latch on to 3 other people when I get there.
finally got the article from the yomiuri up here, check it out above!
justin, if I weren't in charge of the event, i'd be recruiting you! this man bagged at least 20 last year and pulled out a few vespas just during warm-ups!
Is anyone coming by bicycle or car? I want to pay the touch rugby bus fees at Hibari in 森町(in Nagahama), but it's at least an hour round trip on foot. I'd like to go there sometime after the cleanup, so if you can lend a bike for a half hour or can drive me out there or back, it would be much appreciated.
You can borrow my bike if you need it.
Weather update:
Looks like the weather is going to be ma-ma to rainy on Saturday. The rain isn't supposed to come til the afternoon, so I don't think there's reason to cancel...if things get really bad (not in the cards, but just in case), we may have to stop a little early.
My forecast: GAME ON, bring a slicker just in case!
Two of my students today said they're going to be coming :D
the weather for tomorrow is looking worse and worse...I don't want to cancel, but look out for a last minute call on this one!
reports are now saying a storm of heavy wind, rain, will peak around noon...not so good.
I'll keep everyone posted, and send out emails if we need to postpone...
peace,
salem
Yeah, tomorrow looks like a barrage of rain. Touch practice is cancelled too. If you were going to pay me, please furikomi me the money or find another way to get it to me ASAP. Thanks!
Damn that sucks!
Yeah, the rain was already going to keep me away, so I'm kinda glad I won't be missing anything!
I hope we get great weather for your reschedule!
me too! It's looking like the reschedule date will be May 10th, same time same place!!
If we get rained out again that'd be pretty ominous, eh? Bad bodings for BEE. Shame too because last weekend the weather was absolutely perfect!