Students Eliminate Sludge and Slop

Rachael Gleason reports about the clean up at Lake Oolooteka, better known as the duck pond on the Sam Houston Museum Grounds, in today's Houstonian (see previous story):

The historical duck pond was drained last weekend in an attempt to clean years of build-up and promote community service awareness through the Sam 136 classes. The pond was drained several times last week and then student volunteers cleaned out the muck by hand Saturday as part of their Sam 136 curriculum.

The draining of the duck pond also brought up another aspect regarding the history of the pond. Students and residents of Huntsville all know the rumors of love and heartbreak surrounding the pond; the draining had an opportunity to either corroborate or negate these rumors.

"The student volunteers got to keep what they were willing to dig out of the muck," said Pipes. "A lot of engagements are made in the area of the duck pond and a lot of break-ups occur as a result. When people are upset, they have a habit of taking their jewelry off and flinging it in the lake. We have a lot of requests actually, of people asking us to find rings. 'I know exactly where she threw it.' We can't do that though."

Although the rumors call for diamond engagement rings to be located at the bottom of the lake, museum employees and residents usually find class rings along the sides of the pond according to Gene Pipes. The student volunteers did not find any diamond rings or class rings last Saturday; however, they did find a silver ring in the shape of a rose and an old glass bottle while cleaning out the muck.