One man bags trash to clean up Shanty Hollow Lake

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Shanty Hollow Lake is a popular spot used for boating, fishing and unfortunately, for discarding trash.

“It makes me sad and angry at the same time. I really do get upset. From childhood, we were not allowed to leave anything on the ground, whether it was the back yard or out in a recreational area,” Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist Bill Lynch said.

Fisheries biologist Kayla Gerber said discarded trash remains in the ground unless someone cleans it up.

“If we trash it now, it’ll remain trashy,” Gerber said. “What comes out here from the past, remains out here.”

However, one man has stepped up to help in the effort to keep the lake clean. John Stucy doesn’t want recognition for his volunteer work and declined to be filmed and instead wants people to focus on keeping the environment clean from trash. He has been walking around lake for seven days to collect trash in large, black contractor-size trash bags, which were then collected by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In total, Stucy collected 47 bags of trash that included bottles, dirty diapers, used needles and other miscellaneous trash. Stucy is nature enthusiast who is attempting to keep the lake clean.

“That lake is so much nicer without all the garbage,” Stucy said.

Gerber and Lynch traveled by boat Friday morning to pick up the bags that the volunteer collected and left near the water’s edge for easy pick up on a boat.

“For us, we don’t really get the opportunity to come out here to make sure the lake is clean, it’s something that we need volunteers to do. So, anybody who takes it upon themselves to come out here and clean up the lake, I think that’s a great thing for people to do,” Gerber said.

Stucy’s initiative and drive to keep the lake clean has not gone unnoticed.

“I think he’s someone who’s looking at the world bigger than he is. He’s looking out of the box. He’s decided to take it upon himself to change he didn’t form a committee, he didn’t make a complaint, he just took action,” Lynch said.

To see Stucy’s video of the lake cleanup. Go here https://www.facebook.com/john.stucy.79/videos/394685971313152/?lst=1260139024%3A100023152576898%3A1553521860.