Clean-Up Redux

Just as no single drop of rain feels itself responsible for the ensuing flood, each scrap of paper, discarded beverage container, forgotten bottle or can is not itself, a trash pile but just a small part of one. And when we choose to do nothing about the bits and pieces we're part of the problem as well. That changes this Saturday, if not everywhere in Norwich then at the very least in Greeneville and you can help.

I'm almost hesitant to mention this Saturday's Clean-up of the Greeneville Recreation Area and Walking Trail from 9 AM until 3 PM because the last time I did, back in April during the height of the dry Spring, we then had so much rain the squirrels in my back yard were playing rock, paper, scissors to see who could have berthing on the Ark. Needless to say it was washed out and rescheduled for this Saturday.

It's a very public gesture by the Greeneville Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, NRZ, who have been quietly reclaiming their historic village in a hundred small ways for well over a decade. All their networking, their neighbor helping neighbor, the block watches and the general looking out for one another has started to pay off with neighborhood policing and other initiatives designed to help bring back quality to Greeneville's quality of life.

The clean-up on Saturday is a similar of investment of time and talent, but on a larger scale with a more defined, immediate goal that's part of a much larger plan. The Recreation Area and Hiking Trail which starts where the Eighth Street Bridge and Roosevelt Avenue intersect (there's a small parking lot at the foot of the bridge that will serve as an assembly area for those of us helping out) stretches all the way to the (newer) Greeneville Dam up river on the Shetucket.

That's the area we're going to clean up and without sounding too much like Goldilocks, I've walked it and it's not too small and not too big. If a hundred of us show up, which is .0025% of the city, we should have it all well in hand, or actually in trash bags, in pretty short order. If everyone of us brings someone, we should have that number easily.

If you have never been on the Trail, Saturday will be the perfect occasion for your first visit. Ideally, you'll want to bring work gloves and sturdy shoes (I'm going to wear pants with pockets, so I have someplace to put all the fun). If you have a rake, bring  that as well, because there's a lot of brush and other detritus that's in need of clearing.

There's already an area scouted by the Greeneville NRZ that's ideal for picnic tables and we'll be working our way towards that rise which is too far from the dam, and with all the rain in recent weeks, we'll hear the roar of the rushing water long before we get to the riverbanks.

You might remember last May there was a One City Clean-Up of Downtown and then the following week there was a carnival at Howard T. Brown Park. I'm not suggesting cause and effect, but it just so happens the Norwich Rotary Carnival does return to Brown Park starting a week from tomorrow.

I have no idea what we'd need to clean for some pony rides, but as you can probably imagine, my cleaning supplies locker is full. Often the things we do speak much louder than the things we say. This Saturday be ready to shout.
-bill kenny