The Tarheel Hashers and Durham Creek Week: Even in Shiggy, we Clean up Well!
Lickety
The Tarheel Hashers and Durham Creek Week: Even in Shiggy, we Clean up Well!
Since its start in 2009, Durham Creek Week has evolved into a signature community event, with Keep Durham Beautiful now serving as one of its primary organizers. When Theresa “Big Box” Hoke came up with the idea of signing up through Keep Durham Beautiful, we hashers were proud to join in as enthusiastic volunteers.
Who was there:
Front Runner: Theresa “Big Box” Hoke
To view photos taken at this event, open the link below to see the album on flickr.com:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147890119@N04/albums/72177720332756981/
The album’s first photo shows Picture #1 (most of the active participants), taken by Big Box. The final photo in this collection, Picture #2, includes our front runner, Big Box - taken by Mr. Cream Jeans and Just Susan (Chili Willie’s better half).
Active Participants:
Picture #1, Photographer- Theresa “Big Box” Hoke; Assistants (Left to Right) - John “In the Otter Ear” Maxwell: Susan “ScrubJay” Carl; Lisa “Field & Stream” Beck; Guy “Spiked” Beretich; Pete “Mr. Cream Jeans” Klein; Susan “Lickety Spit” Slade; Kristine “Gypsy Rose” Pryzgoda; Melissa “Panties in the Hood” Lee; Julie “Slow Hole” Messina; Susan Harris; Ian “Second Cumming” Cummings. Not in the photo but still present: Aline “Poco” Lloyd and Lenore “Comfort” Brown
Picture #2, Photographers – Susan Harris (Chili Willie’s better half) and Pete “Mr. Cream Jeans” Klein; The rest of the Pack (Left to Right): John “In the Otter Ear” Maxwell; Susan “Scrubjay” Carl; Lisa “Field & Stream” Beck; Guy “Spiked” Beretich; our Front Runner – in front of Spiked, Theresa “Big Box” Hoke; Susan “Lickety Spit” Slade; Melissa “Panties in the Hood” Lee; Kristine “Gypsy Rose” Pryzgoda; and Julie “Slow Hole” Messina. Missing but there in spirit: Aline “Poco” Lloyd, Lenore “Comfort” Brown, and Ian “Second Cumming” Cummings.
Durham Creek Week to Keep Durham Beautiful: A Brief History
Last week marked Durham Creek Week, an annual tradition since 2009 that brings our community together to discover, explore, and protect the waterways that run through our city. Organized by Keep Durham Beautiful, this event mobilizes volunteers across Durham to clean litter, restore creek habitats, and learn more about the health of our local watershed. It has become one of Durham’s most enduring and impactful environmental efforts.
This year’s Creek Week took place from Saturday, March 14th, through the 21st. Our group met on the very first morning—a clear, bright Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon. The announcement went out twice: once early in the preceding week and again as a reminder three days before the event.
Knowing the long tradition behind Creek Week made our own contribution feel even more meaningful. As the Tarheel Hash gathered that morning, we worked with not just tools and bags, but a shared commitment to leaving the creek better than we found it. The Tarheel Hash set out to do what we do best: work together, tackle tough terrain, and turn a neglected stretch of creek into something cleaner and brighter.
An Ace Gathering – The Tarheel Hash Celebrates this year’s Durham Creek Week
Our meeting spot was the parking lot near Triangle Ace Hardware at Woodcroft Shopping Center, and it was wonderful to see all of you who arrived, ready to pitch in. The energy was contagious — that shared eagerness to help set exactly the right tone for the day.
When I saw Kristine “Gypsy Rose”, she told me she woke up that morning with so little time to get ready – and still managed to arrive right on time! It really struck me as remarkable – and to me it felt completely in character. As a realtor, she’s used to responding immediately when a client wants to see a house on short notice, so that ability to spring into action has become second nature. No wonder she showed up promptly on Saturday!
Another hasher, Melissa “Panties in the Hood”, is doing what hashers do best—pivoting with grit, humor, and plenty of resourcefulness. Shortly after she showed up, I asked about her work prospects. After years teaching Montessori kids, she’s now working her way back into the Montessori world to support seniors and folks with dementia. In the meantime, she’s nannying… and here’s where hash comedy kicks in: the baby’s great-grandmother is actually part of the certification process she needs. The catch? Grandma is ninety‑four, spry as a hare, and apparently has a boyfriend who moves fast—so Panties has to track her down before lunch ends and before the gentleman caller swoops in!
After several of us had exchanged hello’s, it was time to direct our attention to the cleanup project, collecting litter in and near the creek behind Woodcroft shopping center. So, we gathered around Theresa “Big Box” and her car, where she had everything impeccably organized — starting with the sign‑in sheet to record our participants. She laid out all the cleanup supplies in neat order: enormous black bags for trash, smaller white bags for recyclables that weren’t too dirty, and plenty of long‑handled grippers for snagging litter just out of reach. As more hashers arrived, Big Box offered clear instructions, answered questions, and made the whole task feel completely approachable. Soon, everyone had grabbed their bags and tools and headed toward the creek running behind the shopping center, ready to get to work.
I joined other brave Tarheel Hashers, clambering down the steep hill behind the parking lot, made even more slippery by layers of dead leaves. We quickly discovered a whole assortment of scraps that had settled among gnarly trees, tangled branches, and sharp briars. But as hashers, undeterred by prickly pathways, we pressed on to hunt, gather, and collect any litter in sight. Our group began at one end of the creek, and while several hashers continued farther downstream to spear and bag debris, I worked closely with Susan (Chili Willie’s better half). Panties in the Hood came over, and we talked while spearing and bagging the surrounding rubbish. As Panties moved on to survey the next stretch, I looked up to see Comfort just beyond us, in the parking lot, collecting what she needed before delving into the shared quest for a cleaner environment.
Susan and I ended up staying put because, alas, every time we cleared one patch, more litter appeared beneath layers of decomposing leaves and soil.
Our boots became our Geiger counters: wherever we stepped, the crackle of old plastic containers or aluminum cans signaled that something was hiding underfoot. And once we uncovered one item, more scraps usually followed. We found empty soda and beer cans, flattened water bottles, a smashed fast‑food cup, deli containers of either leftover hummus or a series of other rotting leftovers. No scrap was too small to collect — cigarette butts, candy wrappers, old receipts, and tiny unidentifiable bits all made their way into our bags, which by then were bulging.
Fresh bags were always within reach when needed. After taking some new bags, we were back at work, and the layers beneath continued to reveal more litter; we kept finding more stuff, where we had been from the start.
And after what felt like a bottomless dig to unearth all the grime, a small “treasure” surfaced: Susan unearthed some purple spider‑web specs to look through — part of a clever Halloween disguise, no doubt.
Scrubjay swung by to check out Susan’s relic from the rubble -and she had also found a holiday relic: a red bell on a discarded Christmas tree!
When wrap‑up time rolled around, burgeoning bags of excavated litter were taken to a “No Dumping” sign standing at the far end of the parking lot. Then, Second Cumming, who had taken a cart down to his excavation site to gather litter more efficiently, discovered it was stuck and needed a hand retrieving it. John “In the Otter Ear” didn’t hesitate to help him move the cart – and the garbage bags – uphill to the parking lot where the rest of us were mingling.
Bravo!
The Aftermath Ensemble: Collected Chaos, Borrowed Carts, and the No‑Dumping Photo Finish
Theresa pulled her car up closer to the sign and declared it was time for a Photo Op to acknowledge the hashers who came to clean up the creek behind Woodcroft’s Triangle Ace Hardware store.
We gathered around the “No Dumping” sign, surrounded by the plethora of filled bags showing our morning’s contribution to the Durham Creek Week cause.
After the first photo was taken, Mr. Cream Jeans insisted on taking another so that Theresa could be included this time — and when he did, my work buddy Susan also snapped a picture of the group. The only difference was that Second Cumming had already departed, his cart now empty, to return it to the place where he had found it earlier.
The trunk of Theresa’s car was open to reveal a trove of refreshments: doughnuts, coffee cake, and, for fans of the salty‑crunchy, a large bag of chips. Beverages — juice and sodas — complemented our brunch, and all who were present to partake did so, sealing the camaraderie as hashers in the afterglow of a job well done.
We appreciate the way Theresa successfully launched this plan for the Tarheel Hash to reunite as volunteers, but she, in turn, believes the thanks really go to the people who showed up and did the hard work, cleaning up the creek to help “Keep Durham Beautiful.”
As we packed up and headed our separate ways, the morning felt like more than just a cleanup — it was a reminder of what the Tarheel Hash does best: show up, pitch in, laugh through the muck, and leave a place better than we found it. From the steep hillside scrambles to the unexpected “treasures,” from borrowed carts to shared pastries, every moment reflected the spirit that keeps this group connected. Creek Week may come once a year, but the camaraderie we carried out of that ravine will last well beyond the final bag tossed at the “No Dumping” sign.
On-On,
Lickety Spit