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Date: Fri 23-Apr-1999

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Date: Fri 23-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

Lose-the-litter-day

Full Text:

"Lose The Litter Day" Set May 2

(with photo)

BY JAN HOWARD

Newtown residents can help clean up the environment by participating in the

eighth annual Lose the Litter Day on Sunday, May 2.

"We're hoping to have a sun shiny day and a lot of people come out to make

Newtown look prettier," said Gordon Williams, chairman of Lose the Litter Day,

which is sponsored by the Newtown Lions Club.

Littering is a longstanding problem that continues to exist despite the

emphasis placed on enhancement of the environment. Residents who want to help

solve some of the problem can volunteer to clean up along local roadsides.

To volunteer for a particular road or for additional information, residents

may call Mr Williams at 426-6443 or any member of the Lions Club. Mr Williams

said he has already received calls from residents wanting to do certain roads.

Participants should pick up bags and gloves and directions at the Newtown

Middle School on Queen Street on May 2, from 9 am to 1 pm. However, the work

may be done in the afternoon. The rain date is May 9.

There is an incentive for those participating in the anti-litter day, Mr

Williams said. Three gold cans have been planted on three major roads (not

Route 25).

"If you find one, there will be a pair of tickets for a movie at Edmond Town

Hall," he said.

Mr Williams said that over 100 families volunteered to pick up litter last

year as well as advisers and members from the Lutheran Youth Group and local

scout troops.

Four of the town's firehouses will serve as collection sites, Sandy Hook,

Botsford, Dodgingtown, and Newtown Hook and Ladder.

"When I go around to the fire stations, there are bags and bags and bags," Mr

Williams said, adding it's difficult to say how much is actually collected

because some of the volunteers put their bags out for the weekly trash pickup.

"It's considerable," he said.

The town highway department drivers will pick up the bags of litter at the

firehouses and dispose of them.

"The highway department is wonderfully cooperative. It does a lot of things,"

Mr Williams said.

This is the third year the Newtown Lions Club has sponsored the event. Lose

the Litter Day was established in 1990 by the now defunct Newtown

Environmental Action Team (NEAT). For a number of years former NEAT member

Judy Holmes and other residents continued to do the cleanup. Mrs Holmes

continues to act as a consultant for Lose the Litter Day, Mr Williams said.

The Lions Club first got involved four years ago when Mr Williams called Ms

Holmes and offered the club's participation in the annual event.

"I thought it was a great project," Mr Williams said. The next year the club

took over as its sponsor.

Lions Club President Joe Grasso said, "I think this is a very worthwhile

project, one of the best the Lions Club has done in recent years. I know the

town will get behind the project so I am looking forward to a very good day."

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