The 2008 Paducah Marine Industry Cleanup Challenge was a huge success.  The event, held June 6, 2008, brought 200 employees from the Marine Industry together to remove 30 tons of garbage from the Ohio River shoreline in Paducah, KY in only 4 hours.

Following are excerpts from coverage of the event as reported by The Paducah Sun:

River Industry employees in Paducah got down and dirty Friday, cleaning up the river for the Paducah Marine Industry River Cleanup Challenge.  Judy Culp, senior human resources manager at Ingram Barge Company, said the Cleanup Challenge gets people doing something about river pollution instead of just talking about it.
“It’s an opportunity to give back to the community,” Culp said. “People want to do it.  It’s just a fun thing to do.  There’s a lot of interest in the environment right now.  The river’s part of that.”

Mark Mayfield, general manager at Tennessee Valley Towing, participated in the event.  “Literally you bend over and start picking up trash.  It’s an effort to just remove trash from our riverfront. I’m hoping that we will be able to keep (Chad) coming back on an annual basis.”

“This is what it’s all about,” Chad Pregracke said.

Many thanks to Ingram Barge Co. for their hard work coordinating the event, and to sponsors Marquette Transportation; AEP River Operations; Marine Systems; Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority; Gault, Marshall, Miller & Box; Hunter Marine; James Marine; McGinnis, Inc.; Henry A. Petter Supply Co.; Crounse Corporation and A & A Riverways, as well as the US Coast Guard and numerous businesses and individuals who volunteered their time or provided goods and services to make it all come together.
The trophy this year went to Ingram Barge Co. for recruiting the greatest number of volunteers. AEP River Operations was 4 employees short of capturing the awesome award!  It was a day of hard work, fun, great food, and camaraderie.