Red, White & Blue

Bag It For Bucks: A Take Pride In America Event

Picture: Salt River Tubing & Recreation, Inc.

MESA, Ariz. — Take Pride in America and express your patriotic pride in Tonto National Forest by celebrating a star-spangled July Fourth weekend on the Lower Salt River.

Salt River Tubing and Tonto National Forest will kick off the holiday weekend with the award-winning “Bag it for Bucks” event, June 30 – July 4, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Free Tommy & Tammy Tuber litter bags will be distributed to floaters as they board their shuttle buses headed for the Lower Salt River .

Tubers will be encouraged to stash their picnic trash in bags while floating. The tubing company is offering a $5 tube rental discount coupon as a token of appreciation for tubers' conservation efforts. Tubers will trade in full litter bags at the end of their floating adventure for a $5 discount on their next visit to Salt River Tubing.

The coupon is valid seven days a week until Labor Day. The event offers live entertainment, water balloon and hula-hoop contests, and beach-ball bonanza.

The Department of Interior honored Salt River Tubing & Recreation with the 2006 corporate Take Pride in America National Award for its “Bag it for Bucks” public stewardship event. Henri Breault says, “We were honored to receive this prestigious award.

“We extend our thanks to the floaters who took pride in Arizona 's recreational oasis on the Salt River and served as stewards of our public lands by ‘stashing and bagging' picnic trash. Responsible stewardship of our natural resources will guarantee that we can enjoy quality recreational opportunities on our public lands for generations.

“We also extend our gratitude to the media in the metropolitan Phoenix area (newspapers, television, and radio) that have encouraged the public to keep the Salt River clean and beautiful”.

Take Pride in America is a national partnership that aims to inspire a new generation of volunteers to put their love of country to work to improve our national parks, wildlife refuges, public lands, cultural and historic sites, playgrounds and other recreation areas.

Take Pride in America is part of President Bush's USA Freedom Corps, dedicated to fostering a culture of service to others. For more information on Take Pride in America or Salt River Tubing, please visit www.takepride.gov and www.saltrivertubing.com .

For more information about Salt River Tubing, please visit the www.saltrivertubing.com or call (480) 984-3305. Special holiday weekend operating hours are 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. The cost of tube rental is $14.00 per person/tube, which includes inner tube rental and shuttle bus service.

One valid driver's license is required for every five tubes rented as a security deposit. Children must be at least eight years or older and 4 feet tall for tubing and shuttle bus service.

Glass containers are not allowed in the Lower Salt River Recreational Area. Ice chests/coolers will be checked for glass containers, and glass containers will be confiscated. Please bring plastic or cans.

Salt River Tubing is located in northeast Mesa on Power Road , fifteen miles north of US Hwy 60 East in Tonto National Forest or 7 minutes from Hwy 202 East and North Power Rd.