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Volunteers work to tidy Tri-State streets
Guyandotte residents Connie Miller, left, and Ida Blake pick up trash along Hillside Drive Saturday, April 4, 2009, as they participate in the Adopt YOUR Block litter program in Guyandotte.
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GUYANDOTTE -- Some areas of the Tri-State should be shining a little brighter after volunteers took to the streets of Guyandotte in Huntington and Chesapeake, Ohio, to rid them of trash.
Hundreds of tires, old couches and scrap timber was just some of what filled two large trash bins, a tractor trailer and multiple pick-up trucks before 9 a.m. Saturday in Guyandotte.
Clean-up organizer Rick Simmons said areas like Bellevue Road and Hilltop Drive in Guyandotte demanded special attention.
"It's needed everywhere. Hopefully if we do it (in Guyandotte), it'll catch on and we'll get Huntington clean neighborhood by neighborhood," he said.
Volunteers like Jay Bowen were stationed at the Guyandotte United Methodist Church early Saturday handing out "litter-gitter" sticks, gloves and garbage bags.
Getting citizens involved once will hopefully encourage them to do it again and show them that it can be done, said Bowen, a leader of Huntington's Adopt YOUR Block anti-litter program.
"The big task is education. Trying to get people to understand -- don't throw it out. This is part of our living area. This is your neighborhood. Would you throw trash in your living room?" he said.
Connie Miller of Guyandotte lives in the area near Bellevue Road, where even abandoned vehicles litter the hillside. Simmons, who grew up on Bellevue Road, said Miller's request to clean that area hit home.
"A lot of that stuff has been up there 40 years," he said.
Miller said the Guyandotte hillside is largely secluded and has become the site of illegal dumping. She said many of the area's residents are elderly.
Miller, her husband and their friend made multiple trips in a pick-up to gather trash.
"We're excited. When you take pride in your neighborhood it makes a difference," she said.
Across the river, another cleanup was ongoing Saturday. Operation TLC (Tidy-up Lawrence County) got started at the Chesapeake Community Center around 9 a.m. There, clean-up crews concentrated on areas between the downtown and east-end bridges.
Employees and students at Chesapeake Middle School also got in on the clean-up day, focusing on the area surrounding their school.
Organizers of the middle school cleanup said they hoped activities like Saturday's would encourage the youth to get involved in their community and take pride in where they live.
