January 10, 2012 was the first Pick-Up the Neighborhood sponsored by NAB, the Neighborhood Association of Ballengee. Seven members turned out to don flaming orange vests, carrying hot orange bags and arms' length "tweezers" with which to collect cans and bottles safely.
At 2:00 p.m. the group met up at McKenzie's driveway and fanned out in opposite directions along Wayside Road. They were helped greatly by a "pace-truck" driven by Charlie Johnson, and backed up by Sheila Johnson and her Suburban. Both re-supplied workers with bags as they re-traced the route and picked up filled trash sacks.
Two and a half hours later, Wayside Road was --at least for the moment--pristine. No cans, bottles, paper could be seen; other refuse collected included old tires, an overstuffed chair, a piece of culvert, an old galvanized bucket, some odds and ends that looked to be car parts, along with one deer hide and a nice fat possum.
Those helping with the event were: (pictured above) Monte McKenzie, Phil Church, Frank Jones, Valerie Church, Elora McKenzie, and Sheila Johnson, Committee Chair, Charlie Johnson generously took the photo!
Welcome to the CLEAN roadsides! Next will be a Pick-Up the Neighborhood event along Stoney Creek road on the Monroe County side of our community sometime in the not-too-distant future.
This is just one of many projects the Neighborhood Association of Ballengee will be undertaking in the coming months. The county is erecting signs designating the association as an Adopt-A-Highway participant and steward.
Also noticeable are the newly installed signs for the County line markers for both Summers and Monroe counties. Joyce Cooper headed this endeavor to finally get the signs up. Thanks to Joyce's efforts, we are anticipating the installation of directional green highway signs for Wayside Road and Stoney Creek Road, as well as Ballengee Road.
