Working with representatives of Keep Clark County Beautiful on behalf of the Keep America Beautiful campaign, one New Carlisle family offered city residents a chance to beautify their community through a volunteer cleanup this weekend.

Nathan Ehlinger of New Carlisle is a working biologist who recently formed the Tecumseh Trail group with his children Oliver, Lorien, and Jonah in an attempt to generate appreciation for New Carlisle’s own wetlands, which are home to countless rare plant and animal species. Because the city’s storm water drainage system often brings litter and other debris into the wetlands, Ehlinger felt it was important to offer the community a chance to get involved while doing some good for the wetlands as well.

“So many people say they want to be able to do something good for the community, but it seems like there aren’t too many opportunities around here for something like this,” Ehlinger said. “I was happy to see that so many people came out with their kids.”

Nearly two dozen volunteers joined Ehlinger and company Saturday afternoon, armed with gloves, grabbers, and garbage bags as they combed the trail and outskirts of the wetlands in search of trash. As the adults worked on recovering larger items like tires and random bulky pieces of trash, their juvenile comrades went to work on lighter fare such as empty water bottles and cups.

New Carlisle City Councilmen Mike Lowrey and Bill McIntire brought their families to help with the cleanup, all of whom busied themselves in quickly filling their empty bags with litter. Councilmen William Lindsey and Ethan Reynolds also participated—with Lindsey playing the unofficial trash man as he drove his new pickup truck up and down the trail collecting full bags of trash for proper disposal, with a combined total of around 25 bags of trash being removed from the valuable natural resource.

Ehlinger’s interest in the wetlands began when he was just a kid himself—as he grew up within walking distance of the site which lies on the south side of the bike path near Smith Park. While the whole location is deemed a wetland because of its unique flora and fauna species, Ehlinger said that six or seven different types of wetlands exist within the larger site.

Plant species such as trillium, trout lily, skunk cabbage, spicebush, and hundreds more call the wetlands home. The White Trillium was named the state wildflower of Ohio in 1986, and features a distinctive simple bloom atop three leaves arranged in a triangular pattern. Trout lily leaves are light green blades that shoot out of the ground with muted brown spots. Their bloom resembles a falling white star with a yellow face, leaving a trail in its wake, as the petals look like they’ve been blown back in the wind.

Ehlinger has said it is imperative to learn about these species in-person instead of via the web, as nature is meant to be experienced with all of the senses. His purpose in creating the Tecumseh Trail group was to spark an interest in the unique wetlands site in his children, but soon realized the significance of sharing that information with other kids and adults as well.

Ehlinger has planned a snake survey at the wetlands tentatively set for Thursday, April 21. The snake survey is open to the public, but will require some walking through the site. During this event, Ehlinger will look under pre-placed foam boards that attract the snakes to see if he can find any threatened or endangered species.

Follow the Tecumseh Trail on Facebook for updates on their summer activities, or to connect with Ehlinger regarding questions about the wetlands.