Plains committee plans fall cleanup

Yard work can be difficult, especially with the recent heat and for senior citizens, but there's help in the near future.

The Plains Beautification Committee had its first planning meeting last week for its autumn cleanup day, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For the fall Plains cleanup day, they will be doing only yard work, said Lana Dicken, one of six members on the committee, including its newest member, Mary Helliwell, who was a cleanup volunteer at last spring's beautification day. The committee also includes: Deb Warren, Scott Johnson, Tim Kinsinger, and Anita Marsh.

This is the second year the Plains Beautification Committee has done a fall and a spring cleanup in one year. In May, the nonprofit organization helped 20 residents with hauling away old furniture, broken appliances, and general trash and debris, along with yard work. The committee met last Wednesday at the Century 21 Real Estate office in Plains to begin its plans for the upcoming cleanup.

The committee is looking for volunteers, as well as people who would like work done at their home. To sign up for either, people can call City Hall at 406-826-3411 or go on the town's website at plainsmt.org/beautificationday. Flyers, which will be distributed around town after the Sanders County Fair, will have information about the event and will have QR codes on them for people to sign up for needed work or for volunteering.

Committee members will be going door to door, as they have done in the past, to find people who need help and to recruit volunteers. Members also plan to talk with people at the Plains Paradise Senior Center on Sept. 4 and 5 to see if any seniors there need yard work done. One thing that is mandatory this year is those requesting help must be present, said Warren.

The fall cleanup day will include raking leaves, mowing, weed-eating, and hauling off yard debris. "We're not cutting down trees, but if you have branches scratching against your windows, we can take care of that," said Dicken. She said that her first spring cleanup resulted in a lot of rain, which meant they were unable to get to the yard jobs. It was then that they decided to conduct a spring and fall cleanup. "It seemed to make sense to combine as we could yard cleanup and overall cleanup in the spring, and then focus heavily on the yard cleanup and getting ready for winter in the fall," she said.

"The fall cleanup is important because over the warmer, summer months, many citizens are unable to maintain the rapid growth of weeds and grasses on their property. It's also a good time to prune any shrubs or low hanging tree branches, so that possible heavy snowfalls won't break them off during the winter," said Johnson.

Dicken said they're looking for volunteer youth groups to help. The Plains Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth group have once again agreed to participate. The LDS group had 20 kids at the spring cleanup day.

Volunteers are key to a successful cleanup, according to Dicken. "We need young backs," said Warren. They had just over 50 volunteers for last spring's event, which Dicken said was a blessing. "We'll take as many as we can get. Many hands make light work," said Marsh. The group is also looking for donations of trash bags, work gloves, bottled water, along with the use of hand tools, such as rakes, mowers, weed eaters, and trailers for hauling materials to the dump or to the town's burn pile in the open lot across from the fire hall. Volunteers are encouraged to bring tools, but the committee will have some on hand. "They should bring what they're comfortable using," said Marsh.

Those with questions can call Deb Warren at Century 21 Realty at 406-544-5971. The next committee meeting will be Sept. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Century 21 Real Estate office in Plains.