It is simply disgusting seeing how much litter lines our roadways and ditches. It is sickening to see this month after month. There are people in this area that have no pride.
My wife and I recently went out of town on vacation and the thing I noticed a lot was the lack of litter at our destination spot.
This is something that has been a problem in our region for as long as I can remember. I know sometimes in Mingo County they will let some of the prisoners out of the Southwestern Regional Jail to pick up trash along the roads. But I guess that doesn’t happen in the colder months. And it doesn’t seem to occur as much as it did in the past.
Now that it has flooded, you can see debris in the trees and on the riverbank—which is even more of an eyesore. Just drive along U.S. 52 and you will see plastic bags hanging from trees like Christmas ornaments.
If memory serves me right, they hired companies after the 1977 flood to clean the banks of this debris.
I don’t know what the solution is for the litter problem. I guess we will always have this shameful embarrassment along our otherwise beautiful countryside. Some people will never have pride in where they live and will never change.
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Speaking of the flooding, it is good to finally see the flooded furniture, appliances and other items that sat out along the roads and streets finally getting picked up. Thanks to the National Guard and others who have been going from area to area to clean up that ugly, muddy mess.
Which leads to my next thought.
The Tug River and its tributary creeks need to be dredged out. This should happen every couple of years.
The streams fill up with mud, sand and, of course, trash over the years. I think it is just logical that this makes the next floods worse. If the flood stage is a certain number, but the bottom of the river and banks are fuller, then the water will come up higher.
I recall an old-timer telling the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers this back after the ’77 flood. I am paraphrasing. “If you fill up a bucket with muddy water, once the sediment settles to the bottom of the bucket, the bucket won’t hold as much water the next time you fill it up.”
Think about that logic from some old Mountaineer. It makes sense.
I think they need to dredge the river and take out sandbars and other debris. It is especially bad where many of the creeks and streams flow into the river. If you dredge and clean these areas of the waterways out, it would have to help with the backwater flooding issues.
Think about it.
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On a positive note, congratulations to both the boys and girls basketball programs at Martin County and Tug Valley High Schools.
The Martin County Cardinals had a great regular season, winning the 15th Region All “A” Classic and the 57th District crown for the fourth consecutive year. The Lady Cards won their first-ever 15th Region All “A” Classic title. Congratulations to Coaches Jason James and Robin Newsome, their assistants and the players.
Across the border, Coach Seth Ooten and his Lady Panthers had a fantastic season making it to the finals of the Class A state tournament in West Virginia. They finished as the state runner-up and only will lose only one senior off that squad.
Coach Rabbit Thompson, his assistants and their Tug Valley Panthers squad won the state Class A crown Saturday night for the second year in a row and the fifth in school history.
Congratulations to Tug Valley.
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And finally, congratulations to longtime Belfry assistant football coach Matt Varney, who was recently named head coach of the Pirates program. Varney is a Belfry alum and deserves his shot. He takes the place of the iconic coach Philip Haywood, who tragically lost his life a few weeks ago in a traffic accident.
Varney is familiar with the system as he was an All-State safety for Coach Haywood in the early 1990s. He has been an assistant coach for the Pirates since 1999 and most recently served as defensive coordinator. Varney has played a big role in all eight of Belfry state championships.
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)