An overcast yet dry morning greeted those who volunteered for the borough’s 35th annual Clean Community Day event on Saturday, April 20, a celebration of Earth Day and the borough’s commitment to ecology. The event was organized by Clean Community Committee and the Public Works Department.
Volunteers started gathering at the Southside Train Station parking lot at 8:30 am where bagels and coffee were provided. Earth Day T-shirts were given out along with gloves, pick-up devises, plastic trash and recyclables bags as well as some fantastic giveaways. Bagels were provided by The Bagel Café, while the tickets for free pizza slices were courtesy of Fabio’s Bistro.
Council President Katherine Mitchell greeted everyone, while Councilwoman Erin McElroy Barker read a proclamation by the Mayor and Council. Public Works Director Clint Dicksen than invited volunteers to break off into groups to begin the cleanup.
Volunteers were divided into groups, each led by a DPW staff member, to remove trash in a dozen areas of the borough including the Southside and Northside Train Station, Carriage House Park and around Borough Hall, La Grande Park, Forest Road Park, North Martine and Midway Avenues, municipal parking areas and the Nature Center, where volunteers helped clean up the brook at the center. Members of the Environmental Commission and the Green Team led the cleanup of the Nature Center as the center marks its 50th anniversary.
Commission member Sandy Redder told the crowd to mark their calendars for a trail maintenance day at the Nature Center on Saturday, May 4 where volunteers will be sprucing up the benches and signs, planting native plants and removing invasive plants at the center. Meditation sessions are also planned as is a Scouts Day. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being organized for later in the year to show off the new stone pathways, bridges and birdhouses.
