Community
gets a nice shine
By Ben
Meyer-Abbott/ Correspondent
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Scores of local
residents took to Centre Street on Saturday to scour and sweep West
Roxbury's main thoroughfare clear of clutter as part of the fourth
annual Boston Shines neighborhood cleanup day, designed to enlist
communities to give their surroundings a home-made sheen.
Armed
with shovels, rakes, push brooms and trash bags, and fueled by
doughnuts, orange juice and muffins, Parkway residents fanned out
along Centre Street from the Holy Name rotary to Spring Street to
give their neighborhood a once-over in the cleanup department.
"It's
always a great day and a great way to get folks to come out and take
pride in their city," said state Rep. Mike Rush, who strapped on a
pair of garden gloves to help mulch the flowerbeds along Centre
Street.
"At
the end of the day, Centre Street always looks much better," he
said. "There really is a noticeable difference. It looks great, and
is a good day for people to come together and take pride in the
community."
Mayor
Tom Menino also made an appearance to lend support the local
volunteers gathered at the Hastings Street parking lot before they
set about their civic chore and remind them of the relevance of
their effort.
"The
city can do its part," Menino said, "but unless we can get everyone
to be part of the cleanups, it's not going to really work. If
everybody helps out, we'll have a very clean city."
Several
community organizations assisted in the cleanup, including the
Highland Civic Association and its president, Gwynne Morgan, who
noted the need for the event.
"You
would have been disgusted if you looked underneath the bench where
people wait for the bus near CVS - it was absolutely ... septic,"
she said. "There's nowhere for people to butt their cigarette butts
or lollipop sticks or anything else. We really need the trash cans
the department of sanitation took away along Centre Street
back."
To
the store's credit, CVS does do a good job of cleaning and
landscaping its property, Morgan said, but re-emphasized that the
dearth of disposal bins has contributed some of the litter problems
along West Roxbury's business district.
In
particular, volunteers said they spent much of their time picking up
cigarette butts in addition to sweeping dirt and grime off the
sidewalks and into the road for street sweepers to clean it up.
"Yeah,
it's true," West Roxbury resident Diana Orthman said, point to a
cluster of butts she had swept into a pile. "I mean, who wants to
see that on the street. We should do this more than once a year; it
makes a big difference. It's a great way to help businesses and each
other."
"It
makes the whole area just look better and helps bring people down
here and makes them want to go shopping or to a restaurant down
here," said Chris Stulb, who is on the board of West Roxbury Main
Streets. "The changes on Centre Street have just been great with the
new businesses and restaurants, and we'd like to continue to
encourage that."
It is
an effort for which at least one local business owner was very
grateful.
"It
definitely revitalizes things, and I think a big kick-off for the
spring for the community," said Eric Battite, whose Real Deal deli
that opened approximately eight months ago. "It shows people care
about their community when they're donating their time to mulch
flowerbeds and clean up and sweep and really helps the local
businesses."
A
service the volunteers were happy to provide.
"We
want them to have as much curb appeal as possible and make
everything look nicer," said West Roxbury Main Streets Executive
Director Kelly Tynan, while potting crocus plants and black-eyed
Susans. "Plus it's a nice thing to do, to get together. It's nice to
have children come out and learn about civic involvement and keeping
their community clean."
"And
people do notice it," she added. "It's very nice to have people come
by and enjoy a clean street and the greenery and to know you were
apart of it."
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