Padillacs: Volunteer rowers pick up trash at White Rock Lake

A brigade of rowers fill bags with trash each month as part of a new program to pick up litter around areas of White Rock Lake that are not accessible by foot.

For the Love of the Lake resurrected the Padillacs program about three months ago to pick up trash that can’t be reached from the shoreline. Every second Saturday during the shoreline spruce-up, the Padillacs meet at 315 E. Lawther Drive under the Mockingbird Bridge.

Volunteers bring their own kayak, canoe or paddle board and scour the lake for trash. Neighbors who want to participate but don’t have the equipment can borrow a kayak or canoe from For the Love of the Lake. This month, the organization bought two kayaks and six canoes for the program.

Staff give volunteers black bags for trash and blue bags for recycling. At the November cleanup, the Padillacs hauled in about 10 black bags and six blue bags.

“We encourage people to come out,” said Z. Zsohar, president of For the Love of the Lake. “I tell them, ‘As long as you’re picking up trash along the way, have a good time.'”

The next White Rock Lake cleanup is from 8 a.m. to noon Dec. 12. Sign up at whiterocklake.org to participate.