The Clean Sweep 2026 - Shift 7 Summary
"When the River Calls the Shots"
Shift 7 of the Big Muddy Clean Sweep - Sunday, September 14 - Sunday, September 21, 2026
By Kevin Tosie, Core Crew Member
Highlights:
9/14 – First full day on Jameson. Crew took a rest day to recover on our first chilly day
9/15 – Back to work. Crew split up and cleaned downstream of Jameson Island. Shawn and Laura joined for dinner and we watched a lightning show followed but a quick but intense overnight storm
9/16 – Unexpected moving day. Waited for river projections, had discussions, then ultimately moved back up to Stump Island Park. Cleaned up that late-afternoon and Katy Miller brought dinner. 9/17 – Charlie Knocke (Melanie’s son) joined the crew. And the crew went back to work on the “Super Fun Site” and other sites around camp.
9/18 – Moved from Stump Island Park to Franklin Island Access. Did a mini-scout for the volunteer cleanup but ultimately had to cancel the Saturday Boonville Cleanup
9/19 – PaddleMO launched from Franklin Island Access. Crew split up and cleaned upstream of Franklin Access up to the Lamine.
9/20 – Slow and rainy morning. Kevin and Matt cleaned Franklin Island by canoe and another crew worked downstream of the access.
9/21 – Moving day! Crew packed up and moved to California Island. Eileen Combs returns and Nancy McKenna and Yev Elperin joined the crew.
With our bigger anchor cleanup in Glasgow behind us, the crew was excited for a well-deserved break on one of our favorite places, Jameson Island. This spot on the river holds so many memories for the Core Crew; from fond camping trips and found artifacts to the sheer size and wonder of this place. We felt like we were home.
Our first full day on Jameson Island was spent recovering from the last couple of weeks. Alyssa and I explored the forested part of the island and the chute. Ryan made art with sand and rocks, Melanie read and worked on puzzles and Matt explored the woods across the river. Later that evening, Kristen and Amara stopped by with their signature red lentil curry and spent some river time with the crew. It was a really great day.
The next day we were back at it, picking up trash along a 4-mile stretch downstream of the island. It was another hot day, but we managed to collect 24 bags of trash and 14 tires from the area. Throughout the day reports of storms capable of heavy rainfall to our north and west had us curious about what the river might look like in a few days. But being in Missouri, we knew that anything could happen. That evening we were entertained by a distant lightning show for hours before making our way to our tents. We were fortunate with only a brief (but heavy) downpour, but our friends upstream were not so lucky.
The next morning we patiently awaited the NWS Missouri River level forecast, but we all knew that it probably wasn’t great news for our beloved camping site. Sure enough, the projection showed a huge spike in river levels, and after much deliberation, we decided that it was best to move to higher ground and move our headquarters back to Stump Island Park in Glasgow. Knowing we still had some unfinished business in the area, we were confident we could still do some good work, even at higher river levels.
The next day we woke up at a boat ramp for the first time during the Big Muddy Clean Sweep. We decided the best thing we could do was to do what we could and continue our efforts in the area. Melanie, Alyssa, Charlie (Melaine’s son) and I decided to return to the Super Fun Site (see blog 6 for more details on that!) and collected yet another 18 bags of trash and 11 tires while Ryan, Jay and Matt focused on areas closer to camp that we thought might go underwater in the next couple of days. This long and very hot day left us feeling good about ourselves but dog tired.
Feeling complete with version 2 of our Glasgow stretch and feeling the desire to vacate the campground before the weekend, we made the decision to move our operations to Franklin Island Access. We were apprehensive to move to Franklin Island because we feared the mosquitoes and knew it was a more frequently visited ramp, but we were pleasantly surprised by our time there. We found a shady area near the parking lot which worked really well for our camp kitchen and personal tents, and enough space to trailer our boats overnight.
Although we were finally set up at Franklin Island Access, the frequent moves and extremely hot days had taken a lot of the steam out of our crew. The next day we were scheduled to host another volunteer group, but the team was exhausted following an unsuccessful scout that afternoon. After some discussion with the team, I had made the tough call to cancel the Boonville Cleanup. While it was a difficult decision, it was the right one.
We spent the next couple of days slowly working our way from the Lamine River all the way to Rocheport picking up along the way. This stretch of river is relatively straight, and we were not seeing the dense concentrations around river bends that we typically see, so it was a little tougher overall. Throughout our time in Boonville, we collected another 27 bags of trash, 9 tires and several larger items including a water heater, 55-gallon barrels and some large chunks of Styrofoam. With the water levels dropping, and feeling complete with the area, we were off to our next camping location, California Island.
Between working out of Jameson Island, Stump Island Park and Franklin Island Access, we removed 51 bags of trash, 25 tires, 5 chunks of Styrofoam and 504 airplane mini-bottles.
Stretch Results:
- Miles: 18
- Volunteers:
- Shift crew: 6
- Trash:
- Bags: 51
- Tires: 25
- Large chunks of styrofoam: 5
- Mini bottles: 504