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Home > Desert Oracle Radio > Positional Projects founder reports another successful Giant Rock cleanup for the project’s 10th anniversary 
Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Positional Projects founder reports another successful Giant Rock cleanup for the project’s 10th anniversary 
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-10-03 14:50:00
Description:

In honor of National Public Lands Day last weekend, Positional Projects and various local organizations celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Giant Rock Cleanup with almost 70 volunteers cleaning graffiti and trash on and around the iconic “Mother stone,” along with speakers, storytelling, and postcard making.

Despite last weekend’s storm that hammered much of Landers, Yucca, and Morongo Valley, Newman said the cleanup had an unprecedented number of campers for the Friday overnighter, with only a light rain at Giant Rock. While the precipitation didn’t deter the collective spirit or the application of the graffiti removal solution Elephant Snot, it did delay Regional Director of the Indigenous Society for Architecture Miriam Ditty’s talk and storytelling for a half-hour. 

“So we sat around the fire in the vortex and talked about the 25th anniversary of the rock breaking and the different things that meant to different people. We were so thrilled to have Miriam Ditty as a special guest. She is a land planner from Albuquerque and her lineages are Navajo and Hopi, so it was very interesting to be able to speak with her about the attributions of the Hopi prophecy to Giant Rock and the split,” said Newman. 

Newman said they went beyond merely occupying the rock’s vortex, to continue cleaning less obvious spots to the passing eye.

“We did discuss you know some of the issues that affect the rock in that community setting which was really great, and some of the volunteers who had come for Elephants Snot paid special attention to the vortex, cleaning that up before, just removing trash and getting the endless nails out of the way from the fires that burn in there, so that was really great that we had some volunteers take that initiative.”

Last week Newman told Z1077 they were also determined to address a nearby cove that had yet to be tackled at previous cleanups and reported a successful effort this time.  

By the end of the cleanup, Newman said 2100 pounds of trash had been collected (hauled away by local husband and wife team Muckbusters) and 2500 square feet of graffiti removed. And for fun, fifty postcards were made by volunteers to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Giant Rock breaking, complete with custom stamps made by Mojave Correspondence Club. Since BLM couldn’t make the event, most of the equipment was provided by High Desert Keepers, with a special lift provided by Dave Cole from King of the Hammers so volunteers could pressure wash some of the higher graffiti on the rock. 

And speaking of King of the Hammers, Newman says the next Giant Rock cleanup will be in January to coincide with the popular offroad festival nearby in Johnson Valley. 

The post Positional Projects founder reports another successful Giant Rock cleanup for the project’s 10th anniversary  appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.
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