The three municipalities spanning Trout Creek have become the focus of a community cleanup effort.

The Springside Sportsmen Club Inc., with the help of volunteers, tackled the first half of the waterway early in August with the second half to be finished on Sunday.“We thought we’d get it all done the first time,” said club Nursery Manager Paul Bachman.“It’s amazing how much garbage there was, bikes and tires,” he said.Bachman said it took 20 people more than four hours to get halfway down the creek collecting trash, recyclables and an old-fashioned doctor’s office scale.“This thing was heavy. It has the weights you add and the bar with the weight marker,” he said.“All the garbage we collected, the borough let us use their dumpsters. The fire companies are really helping us out. They let us use the trucks to run the garbage. The communities are really coming together to help us.”The club’s interest in the creek stems from the trout hatchery it takes care of on Main Street in Slatington.“The borough bought it over 50 years ago and started using it for fish rearing,” he said.“When I was a little kid they had nice fish here but the guys got older and people lost interest, so we decided to bring it back,” Bachman said,The nonprofit club has been operating the fish hatchery in the Slatington Borough since 1955 before becoming officially incorporated two years ago under the helm of Lorne Palansky, son of the president John Palansky.Once a reservoir for the town in the 1800s, it became home tobrook, brown and rainbow trout that swim around the aerated 60-by-30-foot concrete pond that is 5 feet deep.“The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission gave us 30 golden trout fingerlings this year. We have to raise them and stock them in public waters,” Bachman said.Fishing season begins in March but the club will wait until May to release the trout.“We only do it one time a year so we don’t stress the fish,” he said.The club keeps the new hatchlings separated from roughly 150 “holdovers” that are kept from year to year in order to release larger fish into the creek.According to Bachman, the largest fish to be captured so far was roughly 23 inches long.This is the club’s second year holding back fish. “They’ll get bigger every year,” Bachman said.Fifty of the large holdovers will be released into the creak, along with 2,500 of the smaller fish for the upcoming season.Bachman said fishing has taken a back seat to modern technology.“We’re trying to get kids involved. They’re all in the house playing video games but it’s picking up now,” he said.Bachman said parents can bring their children to feed the trout. The club installed two fish-food vending machines at the hatchery.“I’ve had people who have lived here all their lives and have no idea there were fish here,” Bachman said.The next cleanup is scheduled for 8 a.m. Sunday. Volunteers will meet at the Covered Bridge Trailhead in Slatington.The club will host a table at Slatington’s annual The Gathering in October.“We will have some fish with us and try to get our name out there,” he said.Anyone wishing to donate to the nonprofit can contact the club through its Facebook page or contact the club through its email

springsidesportsmenclubinc@gmail.com.