Residents help cleanup their communities
Spring cleanups take place just about everywhere this time of year including Coshocton and West Lafayette.
The 20th annual Cleanup Coshocton event on April 20 had a good turnout. Volunteers met on the court square and were assigned different areas in the city and surrounding area to clear away trash and litter, armed with trash bags, gloves, and reflective vests where needed. The first 50 volunteers received a free t-shirt.
Emma Mitchell, executive director for United Way, said, “We do it in conjunction with Earth Day every year. Coshocton City partners with us every year. Carroll’s Men Shop did our shirts, they are sponsored by Coshocton Litter and Prevention and the donuts are from Coffee Connection. We had a pretty good turnout. The weather is nice today. It’s a little cool, but no rain. We are thankful for the people. This is a good way to give back to the community in ways that aren’t monetary. We appreciate everyone coming out on their Saturday morning.”
Kathie Wagner and Josey Lillibridge both work for Park National Bank. “I have never done this before. Park National is good about letting us use personal time. I’ve done Habitat for Humanity with Coshocton and I’ve done a park cleanup in Newark, but this is my first time to do it here,” Wagner said.
Lillibridge said, “This is my first year with Clean up Coshocton although I have had a lot of volunteer opportunities with Park National Bank. It’s a great opportunity to meet people in Coshocton that you don’t usually see.”
Corey Humphreys and wife Michelle were working along County Road 16 near Morgan Run as part of a group of five volunteers. “This is my first year cleaning up for the city of Coshocton,” Michelle said, “My bag is so heavy. We found plenty of trash to pick up. We are enjoying ourselves and helping to take care of the community. There is a lot of trash lying around. We found a TV and a couch cushion it looks like, a lot of empty alcohol containers, bottles, stuff like that. It’s hard to believe that people would throw stuff out and can’t wait to get home and throw it away. Just keep a Walmart bag in your car for trash and wait until you get home to throw it away or when you get to your destination, or a gas station. There are trash cans everywhere, it’s not complicated. It’s kind of crazy the amount of alcohol consumed and then they just chuck the bottle out, very scary, especially on this curvy road.”
Pastor Andy Bird and a team of volunteers from his church were cleaning up along the railroad tracks on Saturday. “We are with the Church of the Nazarene, and we want to help in our community,” he said. “We are out trying to make our community a better place. We love God and our community and people all over the city. We want to make it the best place it can be. We are joining with other Nazarene churches around the nation on something called The Big Serve this weekend. We chose to do our portion of The Big Serve in our community. We gathered folks together who are willing to serve in this way and came out. We’ve got folks in this group here around the city and we’ve got folks in homes in the city to help those who just need some assistance, like the elderly. We are just trying to spread a little Jesus.”
The Village of West Lafayette held a spring cleanup event on Saturday as well, We R WL Cleanup Day. Mayor Jesse Tubbs was outside the administrative offices with hand sanitizer and plastic gloves.
“We are collecting trash, tires, and all kinds of garbage for community cleanup day with We R WL. We are taking donations and picking up trash around the community. B&L Removal Services provided a dumpster for appliances, metal, old batteries, and stuff. The Girl Scouts are here, the West Lafayette queens are picking up trash. We have two little girls who are collecting money for tires, and we are just cleaning up the village today. Coshocton Recycling brought a scrap dumpster for old appliances, metal, or glass.”
Tammy Hicks village administrator said, “I am just here helping out. I’m happy with We R WL, it’s really a great thing for our residents. We had one clean up last summer and would like to do them once or twice a year for people to keep their properties cleaned up. There are always things you accumulate that you really don’t know what to do with and this is a good opportunity for that. Also, it helps people clean up violations like junk in your yard, old furniture, mattresses, or trash.”
Girl Scout Troop 8199 cleaned Burt Park and around the elementary school. “They did it last year,” leader Shanna Weaver said. “We did Burt Park, the elementary school, and we are going to make our way into the field. There is a lot of trash out there, so we can make sure it is nice and clean for their athletic events.”
West Lafayette Homecoming Queens Maddy Larrison and Abbygail Weaver worked along with the Girl Scouts. “We picked up trash at Burt Park and the playground. I would do it again next year. I love helping in the community, doing everything I can to make sure it’s clean,” Larrison said.
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