Nearly 140 volunteers collected trash, spruced up landscaping and planted flowers at the eighth Belmont City Pride Day on April 26.
Sponsored by Keep Belmont Beautiful in conjunction with the city, the Belmont cleanup drew volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.
"We were competing with a lot of other things going on that day, so we were pleased with the great turnout," says Judy Closson, director of Keep Belmont Beautiful. "It also helped that the amount of litter in town has decreased thanks to more people picking up on a regular basis."
Participating groups included the Belmont Police Department, Belmont Fire Department, South Point High School JROTC, Boy Scout Troop 56, Belmont Abbey College, Belmont Woman's Club, Town and Country Garden Club, the Reid Community and Keep Belmont Beautiful board members and volunteers.
The city collected 207 bags of trash totaling 2,070 pounds. Volunteers also gathered 18 tires and eight appliances. A child's toy jeep adorned with a hubcap and a bone hood ornament was one of the more unusual finds of the day.
McDonald's and Chick-fil-A donated coupons to volunteers. The Belmont Woman's Club served a hot dog lunch, and Patrick Motter of Belmont Abbey College provided entertainment. McKenney-Salinas Honda pitched in with $500.
While volunteers picked up trash around town, Keep Belmont Beautiful board members worked on refurbishing the point area where Central Avenue and Main Street meet near downtown.
Volunteers trimmed the area, removed some shrubbery, transplanted monkey grass, planted new flowers and put down hardwood mulch.
"We didn't do anything with the point this winter and it hadn't been planted for a while because of the drought," says Closson. "I guess people took it for granted that the point was always a pretty area in town. Folks were starved for beauty there."
Closson says the point is a focal area at the town's entrance off Wilkinson Boulevard and that people were glad to see it being refurbished.
"It was amazing to see the response from people in Belmont while we were out there working," she says. "There were more people who stopped to say thank you than ever before." Leigh
Pressley
