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Norris Lake provides recreation, business and growth to Campbell County. That is why individuals and business owners have taken the responsibility to keep the lake clean.

Twice a year volunteers with the Adopt-A-Shoreline program, boat to a stretch of shoreline and fill up the pontoon boat with trash. The group covers up to 30 miles along the lakeside filling bags and carrying tires.

The founders of the program have invested in the lake and want to see it stay clean and beautiful. CJ Pennycuff owns a boat storage business on the lake and Lee and Denise Stevens have a Norris Lake web site. These three people began the lake clean up in 2004, and it was then that they found the message in the bottle.

During the first trash pick-up, Denise Stevens said that you could sit in one spot and fill several bags with trash. While they were literally up to their knees in bottles, cans and Styrofoam, one glass bottle stuck out in the midst of a landfill.

The bottle was large and the aged glass had kept secret the message inside.

The container was uncorked, revealing a scrolled letter which was hand written by a child.
The trio of organizers contacted the girl from the information left on the note. She had written the letter 11 years prior to them finding it. The letter had been sitting untouched and virtually forgotten among the debris which had been collecting from even before the lake was filled.

She was 19-years-old when they contacted her, and only an innocent child when she had written the note that she expected to travel to distant lands.

Denise made the call and informed the young woman that her note had finally been found, and although it was an interesting find, Denise Stevens reminded the girl that she should not have littered.

Another message in a bottle has not been found, but many sunken cars and boats have been pulled from he depths of Norris. In the first year, a diver discovered two sunken vehicles at a free launch site at Mountain Lake. The diver attached a wrecker to the cars, and the as the car approached land Pennycuff and the Stevens said they were terrified when they saw a car seat in the back seat of one of the vehicles.

They have experienced tireless efforts to clean the lake shore, and their efforts have been rewarded after three years as they find less and less garbage on the lake that they strive to better. In the third year, as the group travels the shoreline they are motivated that their efforts are making a difference.

However, it is not just these twice yearly volunteers that are changing Norris Lake shoreline from a trash pile to a glistening embankment, it is the ones that devote their energy and time to the cause independently.

The Adopt-A-Shoreline program has made it possible for homeowners and marinas to post signs at the beginning and end of the area they promise to clean. The signs are promotional, listing website addresses or names. These individuals are making a difference independently from the group by claiming a. stretch of land that is their own.

"If someone doesn't do something about it, what is it going to look like in 20 years," asked Lee Stevens.

The signs that individuals and businesses use cost about $85 and are donated by the Adopt-A-Shoreline foundation to those that will sincerely dedicate time to keep their stretch of land clean. It is a volunteer organization to benefit Norris Lake property that is owned.

"It's really hard to get people involved," said Denise, noting the lack of county-wide involvement.

The few that are dedicated to the cause enjoy the clean ups because of a celebratory party hosted after the clean up. Plenty of food and drinks are provided so the volunteers are happy and well nourished after a hard day of work.

"We have fun," said Lee. "It is basically about friends getting together, a meeting others that are passionate about keeping Norris clean."

The fall clean-up earlier this month garnered a truck load of trash which the county sanitation service hauls off. After the group had finished the intensive beautification effort, they partied with games, music and horseshoes and plenty of food.

"When we get done we feel so good," said CJ.

The total area of Norris Lake shoreline is about 950 miles and according to Denise, at least 100 of that has been adopted by owners to clean.

The seasonal volunteers do larger portions when they can, but they are limited by the amount of cooperation by community members.

In the first year, TVA adopted the initiative as a pilot program. It assisted with resources like bags, gloves and signs.

TVA has pulled most of their support, but they still donate bags to the group twice and year for the clean-ups.

From the groups prediction, the shoreline from CJ's home near Indian River Marina, all the way to Norris Dam will be clean by next year.

The group works every spring and fall in cold weather, fog or rain, they set the date and stick with it. The next planned shoreline cleansing will take place the second weekend in May.

The organizers are working hard to get local businesses involved with donations. They want to provide incentive to volunteers that join the group.

In 2008, the group will hopefully have gift certificates to give as door prizes as well as the games, food and fun.
For more information go to Lee and Denise's website www. norrislakeinfo.com or to adopt a shoreline and find out the dates of clean-ups go to www. adoptashoreline .com.
 

TVA River Neighbors May 2005

Lee and Denise Stevens: Encouraging others to adopt the shorelines of Norris Reservoir

Lee and Denise Stevens have a vested interest in the health and beauty of Norris Reservoir. The Fentress County couple owns a web-based business that offers information about facilities, overnight accommodations, rental property, etc., as well as general information about Norris. The Stevenses approached TVA back in March of last year with an idea: they wanted to organize and sponsor an “adopt-a-shoreline”-type effort on Norris. Their plan was to get individuals and businesses to agree to semiannual cleanups of a selected one-mile stretch of shoreline. In exchange, the couple would erect a metal sign featuring the name of the adopting person(s) or group along the shoreline they have volunteered to help keep clean.

TVA granted them permission to erect the signs on public land and provided funding for the first 10 signs. The agency also shared information with the Stevenses, facilitating contacts among local homeowners’ associations and groups like the Friends of Norris Lake, Keep Union County Beautiful, and Keep Claiborne County Beautiful. The result? Seven miles of Norris Reservoir shoreline have already been formally “adopted.”

“We are so glad to see folks like Lee and Denise stepping up to play an active role in reducing the amount of trash that accumulates on the reservoir shorelines,” says TVA Watts Bar/Clinch Watershed Team member Tiffany Foster. “They started this whole thing, and now it’s really gaining momentum. More than two dozen people turned out for a recent spring cleanup event organized by the Stevenses. We pitched in by donating gloves and trash bags for what we hope will be the first of many similar events. Stakeholder-driven efforts like this are what’s going to make a long-term difference, and we want to support them in any way that we can.”