Green Up Day Thank-Yous
by John Quinney,
May 20, 2010, page 12.....

By the time the Quonset hut crew closed up shop on Sunday, May 2, more than 70 Charlotters had scoured our town roadsides, picking up trash, old tires and scrap metal and bringing it to the Quonset hut at Charlotte Central. We picked up less than in past years, perhaps because there wasn’t as much trash around, or more likely because it was school vacation week and we had fewer Charlotte Central students and their families taking part. Nonetheless, we cleaned up about half the roadsides of Charlotte on Vermont’s 40th Green Up Day.

Many, many thanks to those who came out to green up Charlotte. Special thanks to the crews who braved the noise and traffic of Route 7, always littered with more trash than any other road in town. Thanks also to Junior and Leslie Lewis for making their trucks available and for taking the Green Up Day trash to the All Cycle waste collection site in Williston. At the Quonset hut, volunteers handed out empty bags, unloaded filled ones from cars and pick-ups and marked our progress on the town map. Thank you John and Dorrice Hammer, Peter Richardson, Walter Gundel, Bunky Bernstein, Carol Hanley, Joe Messingschlager, Bob Hyams and Joe and Martha Keenan. And as always, I’m grateful to the Charlotte Conservation Commission for sponsoring Green Up Day and for purchasing Green Up Day t-shirts for our young helpers.

Green Up Day saw lots of activity at the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge – an impressive 63 volunteer hours as reported by coordinator Sue Smith. The park crew picked up trash along Route 7, cut invasives and stacked them for later chipping, and pulled seedling buckthorn and honeysuckle. Two people wheelbarrowed wood chips to put on the trail. Bob Hyams, chairman of the Conservation Commission, donated four trees that were planted in recently cleared areas with the help of Jane Lawliss and several friends attending her birthday party. Jane reports, “We have a great group of friends who were happy to spend time greening up this beautiful park. We enjoyed the reward of our labors by taking in the expansive view while having some cake and tea! We will take greater pleasure in walking the trails of the park in the future as we check in on the growing trees.” Work at the park continues under Sue’s guidance – please e-mail her at ssmith@gmavt.net to learn more.

We’ll be back for next year’s Green Up Day on the first Saturday in May. In the meantime, if you’d like to adopt an area of town as your own for Green Up Day, please let me know at 425-3773 or by e-mail to johnq@gmavt.net.