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Messenger photo by Lori Smith
This creation by Chellsea Price, a seventh-grader at Waggoner Road Junior High School, was the grand prize winner of the 2008 Reynoldsburg Community Clean-up poster contest. The poster design was featured on the t-shirts worn by community clean-up volunteers on June 7, the day of the city-wide clean-up effort. Other opportunities to spruce up homes and neighborhoods will continue through June 15. |
Reynoldsburg’s third annual community clean-up will continue this week with a variety of activities designed to give the city a summertime spruce-up.
During the June 2 meeting of the Reynoldsburg City Council committees, Mayor Brad McCloud read a proclamation in honor of the June 6-15 clean-up, which is designed to increase community education and awareness and include volunteers from a variety of organizations.
Mary Hudson, director of the Reynoldsburg Visitors and Convention Bureau, explained how additional activities are added each year.
"It has grown as we have gone on," she said, noting that the city received the prestigious Emerald Award from the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio last year in recognition of the city’s increasing clean-up efforts.
Last week, for example, for the first time, old non-working electronic devices such as computers, copiers and cell phones were collected for environmentally friendly disposal by Intechra.
Another new activity for clean-up week this year was a recycling bin exchange, which allowed residents to bring in their old broken red recycling totes and exchange them for brand-new ones.
Something else that has caught on is Reynoldsburg’s 20-minute makeover, Hudson pointed out. The chamber of commerce has adopted this idea, and is encouraging businesses, schools and residents to take 20 minutes on the first Friday of each month to clean outside.
To wind up the third annual community clean-up week, bulk-item disposal will continue to be held through June 15 at the city hall parking lot, 7232 E. Main St., as well as from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 9-13 at the Reynoldsburg Street Department, 7806 E. Main St.
Free garage sales will be allowed each day of clean-up week, through June 15. Fees and permits are waived, and it does not count toward your limit for the year. All other rules remain in effect.
Reynoldsburg’s "fix up" assistant project is still available for disabled and senior residents who are unable to obtain assistance elsewhere. Assistance request forms are available at city hall and the senior center.
Also during the June 2 committee meetings, Mary Burcham, executive secretary in the safety/service department, announced that nearly 300 posters were submitted for the annual community clean-up poster contest.
The design of Chellsea Price, a seventh-grader at Waggoner Road Junior High School, was selected to be featured on the T-shirts worn by community clean-up volunteers on June 7, the day of the city-wide clean-up effort.
Other students recognized include: Rachel Paul, a 14-year-old home-schooled student; Hannah Clarke, a second-grader at Herbert Mills Elementary; Angelique Stepanian, a fifth-grader at Hannah Ashton Middle School; Hailey Hooker and Maria Bruggeman, third-graders at Rosehill Elementary; Carmen Caruso, a fourth-grader at Taylor Road Elementary; Chloe Brown, a second-grader at Herbert Mills Elementary; Dana Coffman, a fifth-grader at Hannah Ashton Middle School; Annie Indelicato, a ninth-grader at Reynoldsburg High School; and Carrie Gamble, a fourth-grader at Herbert Mills Elementary.
"On behalf of the Community Clean-Up Committee, I thank you for your personal participation in promoting Reynoldsburg’s clean-up efforts," Burcham told the students. "The time and talent you offered to this project on behalf of your city will now be on display in the lobby and will be there for all who visit our building throughout June. Your posters embody the spirit and pride all of us have in the city of Reynoldsburg and the respect we all have for our clean community."
Judges for the poster contest included Lt. Chase Bryan of the Truro Township Fire Department; Lexi Burcham, a 2005 Reynoldsburg High School graduate; Sharon Bobo of Reynoldsburg City Schools; Les Somogyi of Minuteman Press and Our Hometown Magazine; Joe Taggart, Reynoldsburg maintenance foreman; Jason Gandee, Reynoldsburg recreation supervisor; and Matt Roth, Reynoldsburg assistant city attorney.
Area businesses that made contributions to gift bags for each of the winning students included: City Barbeque, Columbus Crew, Buck’s Dairy Queen, Donato’s East Main Street, Gamerz, Just Because Gifts, Target East Broad Street, and Rainbow Station Day Care.
