Let's Pick Up the Peace (again)

This joint clean-up campaign, originally initiated by Lisa and Richard Armstrong and this year supported by the Town of Peace River and Tim Horton's, finally happened. It was scheduled for Earth Day (April 22), but with the fresh snowfall, couldn't go ahead.

A group of residents (I'm not sure of the final numbers) plunged ahead last night amidst cloudy skies and a pretty strong wind to do what we could to clean up the litter around town. I had the pleasure of cleaning with another woman and her two young children, which made it all the better. We felt like goats as we clambered up the side of the hill near the Log Cabin, but oh, that hillside looks so much better now without the garbage! Tim Horton's brought us bottles of water, which was a nice perk.

Many thanks to the Armstrong family, Tim Horton's, and the Town Staff for getting this organized. And also big thanks to all the residents who turned out to help clean up the garbage left when the snow disappears. I still shake my head at how people can throw out coffee cups, candy wrappers, cigarette packages and all the other stuff that appears on the ground--community pride doesn't seem to be part of their thinking. We need to find ways to reach them. Any ideas?

"Let's Pick Up the Peace" Project

Building on my last posting about the town looking grubby, Lisa & Richard Armstrong are once again initiating a citizen clean-up project for the town. What great community commitment they show with their "Let's Pick Up the Peace" Project.

Plan to meet them and others next Tuesday, April 22nd at 6:30 pm at the Centennial Parking Lot (that's the one behind the Telus building). Bring your boots, gloves and a friend. Garbage bags will be provided.

And as they say in their email: Remember: It takes 1 person 20 hours to do what 20 people can do in 1 hour. Can you give up 1 hour?

Unfortunately, I'm going to be away on Tuesday, so instead, I'll just take a garbage bag when I go for a walk along the dike and do my bit to keep the area clean.

Many thanks to Lisa and Richard for taking this project on. If readers need further details, contact the Armstrongs at llarm@abnorth.com.

Cleaning Up the Town

April 21 to 27 is Pitch-In Week and while the Town is not participating directly in that initiative, I encourage Peace River residents to do what they can to help clean up the town.

For instance, have you taken the time yet to sweep the sidewalk in front of your house, apartment, or business? Now that the snow is gone, this is a small thing that each of us can do to help the town look much cleaner. Swept sidewalks are so much more appealing to walk on than ones covered in grit and garbage.

Another thing we can each do is take a bag with us when we walk and stop to pick up garbage along the way, like Councillor Laurin has done for years. Imagine if 4000+ adults picked up a few pieces of garbage and we all swept our sidewalks how quickly the town would get rid of that spring grubbiness!