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from The Telegraph
April 1, 2007
Volunteers turn out to spruce up River Bend
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The Telegraph/JIM BOWLING
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Gary Cain disposes of trash along Erwin Plegge Boulevard while participating Saturday in the Pride Inc. Riverbend Litter Cleanup in Bethalto. Residents in Alton, Godfrey, Wood River and East Alton also helped clean up neighborhoods.
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By NICK LUCCHESI
The Telegraph
ALTON - Community streets should be a little tidier today.
The annual River Bend Litter Cleanup got under way Saturday morning as hundreds took their spring cleaning to the streets and back yards of Madison County.
The cleanup began in Alton in the early 2000s and has branched out to Bethalto, East Alton, Godfrey, Hartford and Wood River.
Volunteers spent about three hours Saturday picking up litter, with buzzing lawnmowers as background music.
"You don't want your hometown to look trashy," said Rodney Shields, a lifelong Alton resident and volunteer with the Alton High School ROTC.
The cleanup load this year was lighter than last, said Holley Staten, a fellow ROTC volunteer.
Less tangible than discarded fast food containers and plastic bags was the goal of fostering pride in communities around the River Bend.
Sue Hardin, executive director of Pride Inc., a community service group that helped organize the day's events, said homeowners were also out in neighborhoods doing their own projects.
The Alton High ROTC was one of the largest contingents of volunteers, numbering 40.
"It's another learning environment for them," said Maj. Mike Conley, leader of the Alton unit. "The big thing for our program is community service. We want to get the kids out and let them know that there's more than just sitting inside playing video games.
"And we want them to be proud of their community. It's their community, so take care of it."
Around Alton, volunteers were visible wearing orange safety vests as they patrolled the Middletown and Upper Alton neighborhoods, among others.
Carolyn Dooley and Margaret Renken, members of the Alton Beautification and Clean City Committee, said about 45 people signed up to volunteer at the Main Street United Methodist Church station. The pair handed out work gloves before the job and doughnuts afterward to the volunteers, many appearing slightly sleepy after the early morning work.
The cleanups are held twice a year - the next is scheduled for Oct. 20 - and neighboring communities have pitched in.
Originally founded by the Alton Weed and Seed Strategy and focusing on the Middletown neighborhood, the cleanup began as a way for large junk - like old appliances and broken furniture - to be removed, Dooley said.
"We decided the big junk is already gone by now," she said, adding that removing litter is now the prime focus of volunteer efforts.
At Alton Square, an electronics recycling drive collected about 50,000 tons - filling two semi-tractor-trailers - of computer monitors, TVs and other electronics.
Hardin said Pride chiefly sponsored the cleanup last year. Other towns were invited to join this year.
"The litter doesn't stop at the boundaries of Alton," Hardin said. "It's every place, and I think all of the communities are struggling with the same problem."
However, all River Bend residents were not as mindful of the cleanup's ideals. Police scanner traffic mentioned a person who threw a large trash bag off the Clark Bridge shortly after 2 p.m.
A passerby asked volunteers why they make the effort.
"A guy came up and said, 'Why do you guys do this; you don't make a difference,'" said ROTC teacher John Solomon. "I said, 'We do make a difference because we have 40 kids out here and we are teaching them to give back to the community by cleaning up.' We are making a difference."
nick_lucchesi@thetelegraph.com
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