DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / November 10, 2000

MANCHAC – In March 1994 a group of local fisherman and concerned citizens around Lake Maurepas formed the Lake Maurepas Society. Aftersix years, the fruit of their labor comes in the form of a cleaner lake, litter free highways and the Sunset Park in Manchac.

The group first got together to discuss poor fishing and crab catching, said David Hargrave, vice-president of the society. They startedmonitoring the lake for pollution and continue to do so once a month in random areas.

As the society began to grow it took on more projects. Louisiana Highway51 between LaPlace and Manchac had long been used as a dumping ground.

“There were no less than 20 illegal dumps,” said Hargrave.

With the members concerned about the 23-mile stretch of swamp alongside the highway, Operation Swamp Sweep was organized. TheDepartment of Transportation and Development and the St. John ParishOperations Department both volunteered heavy equipment and operators to help out. With 250 volunteers the society pulled 289 tons of trash outfrom the side of the road.

“Now that it’s clean, how do we keep it clean?” was the question then, said Hargrave.

The society gathered 22 different organizations willing to help out regularly and established an adopt-a-mile program. Now the variousagencies clean up routinely to keep the quiet stretch through the swamp clean and beautiful. The Department of Environmental Quality also gave a$20,000 grant for the hiring of a law officer to enforce the litter laws along the highway. The grant paid Lt. Wayne Norwood for nine months ofwork along the road, said Hargrave. The grant also paid for the society’smembership into the national Keep America Beautiful program.

Just recently The Lake Maurepas Society erected a picnic table and two barbecue pits at Sunset Park. Another project of the society, the park haslong been under construction to offer a family location for fishing, crabbing or any other type of lakeside recreation.

Across the street from the Gator’s Den, just south of the Manchac Bridge on La. 51, the park sits next to the lake. The society over the past fewyears has cleared the ground, moved dirt to the park and made the area comfortable. A matching $10,000 grant from the Department of NaturalResources helped pay for the dirt.

“Dirt is cheap, but hauling it is another matter,” said Hargrave.

The next step for the park is the building of a pier so people can fish and crab of it. The remanents of the old Manchac bridge used to serve as afishing pier in the area before it burned down.

The construction of a pavilion is another future plan for the park. “Wewanted to make (the lake) more accessible to the public and expand the natural beauty of the area,” said Hargrave.

Now the Lake Maurepas Society has over 200 members in every parish that touches the lake. The society meets once every other month on the thirdWednesday. Next Wednesday the society will meet at the Arcuri Center inLaPlace at 7 p.m.For a chance to see Sunset Park and join in on some Lake Maurepas Society Entertainment, join them for a hayride by the lake tonight from 5 to 9 p.m.at the Gator’s Den in Manchac. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $4 forchildren under 14. The tickets include the hayrides and food. All proceedsgo to the Lake Maurepas Society and in turn to keeping Lake Maurepas a place of beauty.

For more information call 386-7902.

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