Peace, Love and River Cleanups

For keeping all of this and much, much more out of our waterways...

...someone should throw the Hackensack Riverkeeper a party.

Instead, they threw us one!

Captain Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, giving words of thanks to the crowd at their annual volunteer appreciation party.

The night's theme: Flower Power. The attire: hippie. Easy: all from my own closet. I didn't see this much tie-dye since my weekend in Woodstock. Born in 1975, I missed out on the sixties. If I had a time machine, it would definitely stop there for a while.

The environment was kept in mind. I took a cheerful plastic cloth home to reuse again.

Retro or not, every party should have a punch bowl.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joe's! Make them at home using BOCA ground crumbles, or try recipes using tofu or beans.

I love one-pot meals like this for entertaining. It keeps it simple. I'm often mortified by the amount of food (and food waste) at parties, weddings, etc., and that people spend so much for food many don't even want.

Spinach salad was available, but old school iceberg lettuce seemed like a fitting choice for sloppy joe's.

I always feel like a little kid around cupcakes.

Even the Mississippi mud pie was in the spirit. Veganize it at home.

Love tricky tray auctions. This wine carrier with glasses and cloth napkins would go so well for my summer picnics. Didn't win.

Nor did I win this cute little cloth tote.

The cleanup season kicks off officially on Sunday, April 18, in Overpeck County Park in Leonia. Learn more about river cleanups, and their other eco-programs. I'll be documenting the clean-ups I attend, so you'll be there too.