GREER — Bill Conrad loved being in the water. He loved taking his canoe down to the Mohican River, paddling away in the historic river, with trees providing shade in the summertime.
During his excursions, he’d see litter marring the scenery. This was another one of his passions, scooping up litter either in on the roadways or riverbanks. Someone needed to do it – and he said to himself, ‘Why not me?’
Conrad recently passed away, living a fulfilling life in the northeastern portion of Knox County, honoring nature by picking up litter. He’d organize litter pickup events throughout his years, helping in his own way to make Knox County a cleaner, more sustainable place to explore.
To honor his past work, the Knox County Recycling is spearheading a memorial pickup in Conrad’s honor on Saturday, April 8 at Greer Landing.
The cleanup will encompass Wally Road from 9 a.m. to noon, Gretchen Conrad, Bill’s daughter, said.
The recycling department will provide the dumpsters and bags for the event.
Wally Road was one of the roads Bill Conrad was instrumental in maintaining, Gretchen Conrad said, coining the nickname “Byway Bill” for where his cleanups were located.
“Wally Road runs through three counties: Ashland, Holmes and Knox County so he was very instrumental in working with all the different municipalities in each county and getting them involved in the road and river cleanups,” Gretchen Conrad said. “My dad would organize river and road cleanups and he would do the entire Wally Road, the entire river from Loudonvile to Greier sometimes to Brinkhaven.”
“The best part about it is he never had a horse in the race,” Gretchen Conrad said. “He just did all this because he’d loved to do it.”
One of Gretchen Conrad’s favorite stories of her father was encapsulated in a cleanup where Bill found a tractor tire in the river.
They gathered Jefferson Township trustee Mark Prager and journalist Irv Oslin. They all banded together to get the tire out of the water.
“It was an almost all-day event, digging it out with clam shells,” she said. “We were up to our knees with mud. We had to stop a passerby in his truck to help us pull it up because a winch on an ATV wasn’t able to pull it up over the bank. It was hilarious.”
But that was her dad. He would just see something and say, “We need to take care of this. We need to clean this up,” Gretchen said.
“I can’t tell you how many times he and I were just driving down the road and we’d stop, pull over and clean up areas on the road that were just starting to look bad.”
Bill Conrad’s love for litter prevention was born in the 1970s, while on a canoeing trip with a couple of friends.
“My dad was an avid canoer,” his daughter said. “He was always going up to Canada, Minnesota. They would fly into islands and spend weeks there just fishing or hunting. He found this area and it was just so pristine and filled with history. He loved it.”
His love for the area was encompassed by the creation of the Wally Road Bye Way Association, which helped preserve the road’s integrity and historic value.
He also advocated for the river to be named a state scenic river, Gretchen said.
“My dad was just the kind of guy who just liked to help,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much money he has contributed to the different endeavors he had in the area and every time there was a meeting, there was a gathering, he showed up with boxes of Amish donuts. Everybody got donuts.
“That was his passion. He just wanted to maintain the integrity of the area and keep it pristine.”
