The snow around Wrangell has at last abated, temperatures are above freezing once again and spring is in the air.
Left behind in the sweep of this seasonal change, a winter’s worth of litter, rubbish and debris have reappeared along city streets and facilities, which several initiatives planned for this month hope to address.
First up, this Saturday Wrangell’s annual community cleanup is being organized at Evergreen Elementary School. The site will be a staging area and meeting point for volunteers through the morning. Starting at 8:30 a.m., bags and gloves will be ready for distribution, with dumpsters at the ready for collection.
Organized by Wrangell Pride, typically between 75 and 120 people of all ages take part each year. Last year’s effort saw four miles along Zimovia Highway cleaned up, but public assets of all types get attention during the morning.
“The idea is just to make the community look better,” said Paula Rak, who has been involved in the group’s yearly cleanup for three decades. “The Lion’s Club was doing it before that.”
Areas aren’t necessarily assigned in the cleanup. Instead, volunteers are encouraged to pick out their own territories to clean up.
“I just tell people to go out and pick up litter in the areas that bother them most,” Rak explained.
Using materials donated by local businesses, the group provides volunteers with cleaning supplies and refreshments they’ll need to get through the day, and provides a free lunch at noontime at the collection point.
“We have a little incentive for people,” Rak added.
Drawing from a pot of funds accumulated through past bake sales, $350 will be dispersed in $5 increments through a raffle. The way to play is by collecting garbage. For each bag brought back to the event’s collection, the bringer gets his or her name submitted into the drawing on a ticket. Every ticket pulled wins somebody a $5 bill.
The next weekend on April 21, Wrangell Parks and Recreation will be holding its second parks revitalization project. Mobilizing volunteers, the planned annual initiative picks one of the department’s public amenities to give a good going-over. Last year’s project had volunteers help with brushing and patching up the Volunteer Park trails, repainting its ball fields and collecting any litter. Sixty-five residents had come out for the event.
“We thought that was a great start,” Parks & Rec director Kate Thomas remarked.
Scheduled for between 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., this year the focus will be on City Park and the cemetery.
“We’re going to clean up the headstones at the lower cemetery,” Thomas said, as well as doing some brush removal and weeding. At the park itself, materials have been gathered for some picnic table repair and painting, as well as pressure washing for the site’s structures.
Volunteers will be provided lunch at midday and the necessary tools, and only need to bring work-ready clothing.
Thomas explained the project helps her department keep up on its projects. With 13 facilities to maintain, Parks & Rec has one 25-hour maintenance position on staff, largely occupied with the community center and swimming pool. During the summers two seasonal staffers are added to tend to other amenities, but are largely kept busy with mowing and similar maintenance.
Wrangell’s joggers and recreational walkers are doing their part, too. Through the month of April, the group Southeast Beasts has been encouraging people to pick up rubbish as they spot it, based on a Swedish trend called “plogging.” On the group’s Facebook page it recommends posting either a comment or photo of what had been collected. Participants will be entered into a door-prize drawing, to be held after the month’s end.
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