Murphy – Mark Kephart and friend John Wooten were out on Lake Hiwassee, enjoying the day and minding their own business.
“I go out there fishing all the time,” Kephart said. “We go two or three times a week. we’re going down there this evening,” where he catches a lot of crappies. “They are a wider fish that taste a little sweet, not fishy like bass.”
Kephart and Wooten were close to the boat dock near Payne Street when they saw a woman in a fishing boat.
“She was out there with her son trying to fish,” Kephart said. “Except that it was so trashy it was impossible to fish.”
Litter irks Kephart.
“A lot of people just throw their trash in the lake,” he said. “I’ve seen it several times.”
Kephart sees this type of behavior as criminal. “They ought to be in jail when they do that,” he said.
However, Kephart’s solution was not to make a citizen’s arrest.
“I turned to Wooten and told him we were gonna go in there and clean it up,” he said. And they did.
Lake Hiwassee has 163 miles of shoreline, most of it controlled by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Nantahala National Forest. The lake was created and managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority as part of the Tennessee River system.
Kephart suspected TVA was in charge but said, “I’ve got a good relationship with [Murphy Town Manager] Chad Simons, and I told him we’re gonna clean that up.”
Simons was already well acquainted with Kephart because they worked together on the Murphy River Walk. Kephart not only helped build the River Walk, he volunteered to put in handicap-accessible fishing docks.
So Kephart, accompanied by his Australian Blue Heeler Rowdy and Wooten, spent four hours at the boat dock on Payne Street hauling out trash.
“We used a skid steer. I can go all the way in the water with it,” he said.
They pushed all the debris to the other side of the road by the rock bluff. “You couldn’t even get to the boat dock before we started,” Kephart said.
Later, he saw L.C. Grading hauling off all of the trash they collected.
“It’s all cleaned up,” he said happily. “I want people to get out and enjoy the pretty lake and river we have.”
Kephart said his altruism is simply being part of the community.
“I enjoy getting out and doing stuff in the community,” he said.
“I encourage everybody, if you enjoy the outdoors, help us keep it neat and cleaned up.”
Kephart especially wants to encourage younger people to get more involved.
“I’m 57 years old and won’t be doing this a lot longer,” he said. “Some of the younger ones will have to step up.”
Kephart is already an example for those coming behind him. He said Eddy Sylvester, a local contractor, noticed what Kephart was doing around town and started to volunteer himself.
“He’s younger than me,” Kephart said with a laugh.
“I’m not any kind of hero,” he added. “I just appreciate what we got here and want to keep it as clean and pristine as we can.”