To build a better borough, sometimes you’ve got to get your hands dirty.
That’s why more than two dozen volunteers donned gloves and toted trash bags Wednesday evening to help pick up litter at Whites Road Park in Lansdale. The idea was conceived by borough resident William "BJ” Breish, and supported by Discover Lansdale.
"I take a lot of pride in our town,” said Breish. "We’re not just a town in motion, but we’re a town with a vision, and we’re a town with a lot of folks who want to get involved and do the right thing.”
Having grown up in neighboring Hatfield, Breish moved to Lansdale in 2002, and has come to cherish the borough's local parks in the years since. "I love taking our 3-year-old daughter Addison here, and I want to make sure we continue to leave it in good condition.”
On a sweltering evening, friends, neighbors, and others who may never have done anything like this before, combed the park collecting bags of broken glass, cans, paper and other evidence of the borough’s biggest and busiest open space – 33 acres comprising tennis and basketball courts, playground, swimming pools, a nature footpath through woodlands, and an amphitheater hosting weekly concerts, movies and stage shows every summer.
"This is our first time,” said Kathleen Benson, who volunteered with husband, Mike. "We wanted to get more involved with Lansdale, and this seemed like a good way to help and get exercise at the same time.”
And for Julie Krail-Evans, combing the brush with three of her children, "This is our neighborhood and community; this is our neighborhood park, and it’s important to come out and clean up trash and be role models for our children. The town takes care of us, and we want to give back.”
But no matter how dirty hands might have gotten, they all dipped into sanitizer to indulge in a post-cleanup buffet, contributed and catered by Lansdale’s Smoke Daddy Home Grown Barbecue.
"I think that hopefully this idea, and this event, could be a springboard to encourage a coalition of community members who are just as passionate about our park system as I am, and that want to support it,” Breish said.
The next town cleanup will be along Main Street on Sunday, Aug. 19 at 11 a.m., in advance of the big Founders Day celebration the following Saturday (Aug. 25).
