WESTFIELD – After cancelling its annual spring Westfield River cleanup because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Westfield River Watershed Association hosted its annual fall river cleanup under new guidelines on Sept. 26.

Mark Damon, a board member with the Westfield River Watershed Association, said they have been organizing a river cleanup annually since the early 1990s.

“I’ve been doing them for over 20 years, and they go back even before that. I’m going to guess they go back at least 25 to 30 years,” he said.

In a typical year, anywhere between 15 and 45 people participate in the cleanup, but Damon said he was expecting a lighter turnout this year because of COVID. Ultimately, around 20 volunteers showed up to help.

“We had to tell everyone to wear masks, we have sanitizer out, we’re giving everyone their own pen. A lot of the time people come in several cars and then pile into one car to go to the cleanup location so we’re cautioning people to take their own cars to different locations,” Damon said.

Volunteers met at the Westfield Municipal Building parking lot before being divided into groups of around four people and sent out to one of several locations.

“People meet up and go to several spots, including along the river here. We are also sending people out to the Whitney Playground, and under the Route 20 bridge,” he said.

At the location under the Route 20 bridge, volunteers picked up trash including cans, paper plates and wine bottles.

Damon said that in past cleanups the association has pulled all kinds of debris out of the river area.

“We’ve had mattresses, we’ve had large kitchen appliances, we’ve had different kinds of furniture, beer cans, disposable diapers, and construction debris as well,” he said.

By cleaning up the river, Damon said it helps improve the lives of everyone in the area.

“Maintaining the health of the river and the ecosystem maintains all of our health,” he said.

Along with the cleanup in Westfield, Damon said there were also cleanups organized in West Springfield and Agawam.