Volunteers give the city a ‘clean sweep’

HOLYOKE - From Beaudoin Village to Lyman Village to Pulaski Park and beyond, volunteers stuffed trash bags, wept sidewalks, removed debris, and made the city a cleaner and safer place during the annual “Holyoke Clean Sweep” on Friday and Saturday last week.

Neighborhood and city organizations fanned out to clean parks, streets, alleyways, and embankments of garbage That included items such as fast food wrappers, discarded mattresses, broken televisions, and used drug paraphernalia.
The Mayor’s Office, Holyoke Boys and Girls Club, Open Square, the Count on Me Program, the Holyoke Community Charter School, and residents from Ward 4 joined in on the effort.

Crews from the Department of Public Works and Suez Environment-United Water used trucks to pick up the trash at designated areas throughout the city. The annual cleanup draws attention to the city’s daily continued fight against trash and the need to educate businesses and residents to help keep Holyoke clean.

For Ward 4 resident Daphne Board and her husband, Stan, along with City Councilor Tim Purington, every week is “Clean Sweep,” as they host the weekly “Trash Bash” in their Pine Street neighborhood. While some progress has been made to tackle the trash problem and the roster of residents to help them has grown, it became evident behind 181 Pine St. that more has to be done.

Board and seven other volunteers scoured the alley behind the shuttered tenement, long known to nearby residents
as a place for illegal activity and drug use. In less than an hour, the volunteers removed six mattresses, a broken television, discarded furniture, building materials, stacks of tires, a mini-pool table, car doors from a compact car, and bags overflowing with trash.

“I think it’s a slow progressing,” said Board about the groups attempt to keep the ward clean. “Honestly, the first
time we started doing it there was a lot more trash on the streets and I think it’s really not a situation where our goal is to completely eradicate the trash, because that would take years and years. Our goal is to build a network of people and get some sense of community and that’s totally happening.”

She said the groups other goal is to have residents take care of their own property and nearby alleyways. Homes and buildings adjacent to the alleys have the responsibility to keep those areas free of debris as they share property rights.

Board said the group “trash bashes” one weeknight and on Saturday afternoons. The weekly neighborhood clean up has produced some results. “Every week we go out and more and more people see us out. And, so, if one person
sees us out in a week, we made progress in the right direction because it’s one less person who is going not to take care of their property,” said Board.

As Purrington rummaged through the alley and hauled out large pieces of debris to the nearby curb on Appleton Street, he came upon a used syringed that he found near a broken down garage. He wore surgical gloves during the
clean up in case such a situation arose.

Besides participation in the weekly clean ups, Purrington, along with other residents in Ward 4, formed a neighborhood crime watch group. The alley has been identified by both the police department and Mayor Michael J. Sullivan as a place of both illegal activities and illegal dumping.

Purrington said he introduced proposed ordinances in the past to limit access to alleys and to have bulk item pick
ups for all residents to drop off larger items at the DPW. “Right now it’s only people with permits, which is basically just homeowners,” said Purrington. “When half the city are renters, you’re eliminating half the people. I think there are a lot of people that don’t have other ways.”

By the time the volunteers reached Suffolk Street, they cleaned most of the alley and piled the bags and debris for
the DPW crews to pick up. For the residents of Ward 4, they have many more weeks of clean ups and trash bashes ahead of them.

By Dennis P. Hohenberger
Turley Correspondent