Lynnfield girl sets tidy example

LYNNFIELD ? Grace Mealey of Lynnfield is the cleanest kid in the country, according to vacuum manufacturer Eureka of Bloomington, Ill.Mealey, 7, was named Eureka’s “Cleanest Kid” thanks to her entry and creative photo in a company contest.As the girl put it in her winning essay, “I love to clean floors so my favorite socks don’t get brown and dirty on the bottoms.”Asked for cleaning advice, she said, “My tidy tip is to keep a throw rug by the front door to wipe your feet on when you come in the house. My job is to shake the little rugs outside and then vacuum them.”Eureka, maker of the Clean Living? vacuum, put out a call to America’s cleanest kids to tell the company why they love to clean and offer suggestions to adults on how to clean. For the past six weeks, consumers logged on to www.eureka.com/cleankids to submit their child’s testimonial, cleaning tip and a photo of their child cleaning for a chance to be featured on the site.”The advice we’ve heard from America’s Cleanest Kids is refreshing,” said Jackie Cooper, director of marketing and communications for Eureka. “Through this contest we are reminded that a clean home has a positive effect for everyone, even the youngest members of the household.”As the grand prize winner, Mealey won a $250 Toys ‘R Us gift certificate and a Eureka Clean Living vacuum, which uses a filtration that helps eliminate messes and odors. The other four finalists received a $100 Toys ‘R Us gift certificate and a Clean Living bag-less vacuum. All five winners will be featured on the Eureka Web site until July 30.The other finalists offered the following tips and reasons why they love to clean: “I love to clean because it helps people because I really love to do it because I care about people. Vacuums help me in case something like the floor gets dusty! Vacuums help get juice spills up but make sure to use a little cleaner too,” wrote Holden Weidemiller, 4, of Orland Park, Ill.Tyler Baker, 6, of Elyria, Ohio, said, “I love to clean because I want to get rid of dust so my allergies and asthma won’t act up. I help my mom vacuum everyday and it helps a lot. I also love to clean to keep the house shiny.”Baker’s tip, “To keep the house tidy, I pick up my toys when I am done with them.”Cooper said the responses exceeded the company’s expectations. “They definitely taught everyone a thing or two about cleaning,” she said.