Clean up ahead of schedule at Country Thunder

The last chord has been strung at this year’s Country Thunder Saskatchewan, and now it’s time for the next act: tear down.

Compared to other years, the grounds are looking more well-kept — so much so that Gerry Krochak with Country Thunder said clean up is two days ahead of schedule.

He said he thinks the upgrades might have something to do with it.

“Maybe people came out and saw that the site was a lot more tidy and thought, ‘Well, I better follow suit with this,'” Krochak said.

Speaking with the site group Monday, Krochak said they talked of how much cleaner the campsites seem to be this year.

“People took some of the advance advice to heart,” he said. “Recycling was more prevalent with the multicoloured bins.”

Shandell Blattner is someone who knows all about giving clean up advice. She’s been working security at the music festival for almost a decade, and this was her second time patrolling the campground.

Each morning, Blattner said they’d give campers bags for their garbage and recycling, and this year many made an extra effort.

“We tried to promote it the best we could and everyone was really well behaved with it,” she said.

Bev Nelson, a 24-year veteran to the music festival, said she hopes to keep the trend going.

Next year, Nelson plans to bring two community bins for trash and recycling to put on the road near her campsite.  Since she’s typically located on the corner, Nelson hopes the bins will mean less recycling rolling into her campsite.

“We don’t like cleaning up every morning — especially if it’s glass bottles,” she said with chuckle.

However, Nelson added she only saw one glass bottle all weekend.

For 18 years, Angie Merasty and her family have been driving eight hours from Pelican Narrows to attend the festival, and she is also impressed with the lack of garbage around.

She said this year, organizers have been promoting garbage and recycling more than ever.

“(Festival crews) are probably helping themselves in the way of having less clean up for days and days after — it’s very smart,” Merasty said.

While it’s nice to have less waste around the grounds, Merasty said she’s seen it all over the past two decades, and there isn’t much that would keep her away from the festival.

“Some people come for the music — some people come for the big party, but we come as a family with friends,” she said. “It’s like a reunion every summer for us.”