Members of the Friends of Boley are planning their next cleanup of the Hobolochitto Creek, set for early October.

The original plan was to check out the creek from the U.S. 11 bridge to Long Bridge on Beech Street to see if that section of the creek would be a good candidate for the cleanup. However, board members John Huck, Keith Kingrey and David Malcolm decided they may need to find an easier location after taking trip down that section of the floate trip creek on Tuesday.

The trip revealed that section of the creek is in dire need of cleaning, but would involve a lot of tree cutting and clearing of debris, more than most volunteers may be willing to handle.

“It was an adventure, it really was,” Kingrey said.

Kingrey said it took almost two hours for the three men to traverse a section of the creek that would equal a ten-minute drive in town. Even though the water level was at a decent height Kingrey, Huck and Malcolm could tell more debris and downed trees lay under the surface. The threes also noted a number of garbage piles and recall seeing an old freezer in the creek.

Instead of focusing on that section of the creek for the coming cleanup, the members plan to take a quick trip down the creek from the Mississippi Highway 43 North bridge that crosses West Hobolochitto Creek to Long Bridge on Hobolochitto Creek to see if that route would be shorter and if the amount of debris to be removed from the creek would be more manageable. West Hobolochitto Creek and East Hobolochitto Creek join at the bluff on which the Hermitage sits to form Hobolochitto Creek. Long Bridge crosses Hobolochitto Creek on Beech Street about one-half mile below where the two smaller Boley creeks come together.

Signs are being made to advertise the cleanup around Picayune and are expected to be ready in time for the event, Kingrey said. Canoes have been rented from Wolf River for use by cleanup volunteers, Kingrey said.

Currently, the cleanup is set for Saturday, Oct. 8. More details will be determined in upcoming meetings.