Plains to hold second community cleanup

The town’s cleanup day in May was so successful, the Plains Beautification Committee decided last week to hold a second one this fall.

The committee unanimously voted for the fall cleanup day to take place on the third Saturday of September, and spring cleanup days will be the third Saturday of May, according to Lana Dicken, one of the committee organizers and one of the coordinators for last spring’s event. In attendance at last Wednesday’s meeting at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park were Garrett Boon, a Plains council member, and residents Scott Johnson, Tim Kinsinger, and Anita Marsh.

The autumn cleanup day is scheduled for September 16. The committee has planned for the third Saturday of the month in September and May. “We tried to take into account weather, fair weekend, and students in school who might want to earn volunteer hours, etc, when selecting the date,” said Dicken.

Dicken said the cleanup day last May was successful with some 40 volunteer workers and nearly two dozen residents requesting help. The Plains Beautification Committee, however, made some changes that they hope will make the fall event even better. The September cleanup will focus on lawn maintenance, such as raking, mowing, weed eating, pruning and transporting yard waste to the dump. The committee is looking for volunteers that are willing to bring rakes, lawn mowers, weed eaters, pruning shears, and other yard work tools. “Spring cleanup will focus primarily on garbage removal, and hauling garbage, metal, appliances, tires, etc, very similar to the cleanup day activities from this past May cleanup day,” said Dicken.

Boon spoke with the workers at the dump and they requested that the volunteers do a better job separating and sorting items before they are taken to the dump. “We agreed and began to brainstorm ideas around improving sorting. It was mentioned that maybe we identify which vehicle or piece of equipment will be connected to what specific material so it lessens the confusion,” said Dicken.

The committee also decided ways to promote the event, such as looking into online community calendars connected to local newspapers, as well as reader signs at local businesses. They also talked about adding their own link to the town website dedicated to beautification of Plains, according to Dicken. “We also began discussing the possibility around creating a competition between businesses for sponsoring their own hanging baskets on Main Street in an effort to increase town pride and participation in beautifying our downtown,” she said.

The committee’s next meeting is July 19 at 7 p.m. at the pool park and anyone interested is welcome.