By SCOTT POWELLLedger Staff Writerspowell@gaffneyledger.com

Members of Boy Scout Troop 53 worked with U.S. Navy Reserves on Friday and Saturday to clean up an area on the Broad River. Pictured are (front row, left to right) Leland Lemmons, Trey Lemmons, Gettys Brannon, Collin Johnson and Hayden Bunch. (Back row) Gaffney Fire Department member Beau Hudson, U.S. Navy Reserves Matt Reynolds and Chad Hudson. The scenic Broad River hides the ugliness of trash left in the woods by litterbugs.

U.S. Navy Reserves Chad Hudson and Matt Reynolds joined members of Boy Scout Troop 53 in Gaffney in cleaning up one of the river banks Friday and Saturday.

Hayden Bunch, Gettys Brannon, Collin Johnson, Charlie Burns, Trey and Leland Lemmons did the service project with the navy reserves while on their first camping trip as Boy Scouts.

The scouts filled 19 trash bags with 333 pounds of plastic bottles, styrofoam and glass containers. The trash bags were loaded onto a fishing boat and transported to the Gaston Shoals Lake boat landing.

The trash bags were weighed and then taken by the Navy Reserves to the recycling center.

Johnson and Trey Lemmons discovered a message in a bottle Saturday morning while picking up plastic bottles. It was a 3-page break-up letter from a guy named Brad to Kristen.

The scouts also found their own version of Wilson, the volleyball character from the Tom Hanks island movie "Castaway."

"It was amazing what we were able to find while cleaning up a lot of trash from the river in just a couple of hours," U.S. Navy Reserve Chad Hudson said.

Planning for the service project began in October of 2004 when Cherokee County School District Information Management Director Jerry Ellis contacted Hudson about a summer computer training opportunity. Hudson and other members of the Greenvillebased U.S. Navy Reserve unit helped the district install computers at Alma Elementary last summer.

Hudson, a Blacksburg Rotary Club member, had learned Rotary International wanted local Rotary clubs to form partnerships with Boy Scout troops and work on community service water projects.

Hudson decided to combine Navy Reserve training and Rotary Club service with a Boy Scout Troop 53 camping trip. The reserves were joined by Sam Burns and Joey Lemmons, two of the Boy Scouts' fathers, and Gaffney Fire Department member Beau Hudson, Chad's brother.

"This was a tremendous opportunity for our reserves to give back to the community," Hudson said.

The Blacksburg Rotary Club provided water, trash bags, meals and fuel for the boat used by the Scouts to reach their camping site on the Broad River. TransMed's Roger Shiflett supplied Beau Hudson with medical supplies to look after the Scouts.

The Navy Reserves showed the Scouts how to use a compass.

Scouts used their new compass skills to navigate an orienteering course and find MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) hidden by the reserves.

Chad Hudson, a certified scuba diver, gave a brief scuba diving demonstration Saturday morning as the Scouts cooled off in the Broad River following their service project.

"The Navy Reserves were great mentors. They spent time with the Scouts, helped them with a community service project and taught them things like how to use a compass," Boy Scout Troop 53 Assistant Scoutmaster Mark Bunch said. "I couldn't ask for anything more as one of their Scout leaders. This is a trip our Scouts will remember for a long time."