Residents comb Saugus for annual spring cleanup day

SAUGUS – More than 100 local residents fanned out around Saugus with brooms, rakes and trash bags in hand for the town?s first annual spring cleanup.Selectman Julie Mitchell and Trash and Recycling Coordinator Lorna Cerbone helped organize the event Saturday, which Mitchell called a “huge success.”?It was awesome,” said Mitchell on Wednesday. “It was a group effort and everyone worked together. Just what we pulled out of the high school alone was huge. It?s just unbelievable.”Cerbone said they had a lot more volunteers than they thought they would get, and were able to fill up a 20-yard dumpster while collecting 16 truck loads of yard waste, including six tires found around the high school.?We targeted six areas on top of some vacant properties,” said Cerbone. “We had more volunteers so we picked up a lot more trash than we thought we would and the fact that it was a beautiful day helped us tremendously.”The cleanup started bright and early at 7:30 a.m. at the Youth and Recreation Center. From there, groups spread out around Saugus to clean up areas including the high school and middle school, Cliftondale Square, Saugus Center and several parks in the area.At noon, volunteers met back at the Youth and Recreation center for a barbecue.Mitchell said the Stop and Shop on Route 1 brought more than 20 employees, who spent their time cleaning up at the high school. Stop and Shop also supplied trash bags and food for the post-cleanup cookout, including hot dogs, chips and salad, said Mitchell.?You can?t even imagine what they donated,” said Mitchell. “There was so much stuff, cases of water, soda, granola bars and other snacks ? There was probably 20 pounds of salad. It was just so much stuff. It was a real community event and they can?t wait for next year.”Mitchell also thanked J and M Subs for donating pizza, and Home Depot and Lowe?s for donating supplies.Town Meeting member Paul Allan helped clean up the area around Stocker Field off of Winter Street alongside State Rep. Donald Wong and selectmen Stephen Horlick and Debra Panetta.?It was great,” said Allan. “We picked up trash, spray painted the graffiti on the poles with black spray paint and we went along the tributaries and got a huge bag of recycling from all the bottles that washed up along shore.”Allan said they collected “a ton” of trash throughout the day.?It was insane,” said Allan. “We could have used a lot more people. It looks better without a doubt. The area we did you can?t really see it, you have to go down by the water ? People were down at the high school too and they came back with a ton of stuff.”Town Manager Scott Crabtree was there too and said the support of the Board of Selectmen, especially Mitchell, went a long way to boost participation.?I think it?s twofold,” said Crabtree. “One, you?re taking ownership and pride in the community as a resident, and secondly, it becomes a community even where people can get together and cook out with food after. That?s something the Board of Selectmen and the manager?s office will try to move forward with for other types of events.”Horlick said the cleanup was “well-organized” with both residents and businesses going “above and beyond.”?It?s just going to get bigger and better every year,” said Horlick. “We cleaned up like a 60 gallon trash bag full of bottles. You have tennis courts there and you have the river, so we walked along the edge and then we did around the ball field.”After a higher-than-expected turnout, Mitchell said she?s already looking forward to next year and may even look into holding a town cleanup twice a year.?I think once everyone sees people pulling together and doing something positive, we?ll have even more people next year,” said Mitchell. “Saugus has been so negative lately with all the horrible things we?re going though, it?s nice to see something positive. It makes a huge difference.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].