Saturday, October 5, 2024
Hood County residents will soon get another opportunity to transform their community into a cleaner — and greener — place to live.
The semiannual Great Granbury Cleanup will take place beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, where many volunteers will spend their morning picking up trash along frequented roadways.
One big change for the October event is that rather than meeting at Hewlett Park before the cleanup, residents will be instructed to meet at City Hall at 116 W. Bridge St.
“What we do is we gather them here, give them some safety videos to watch, and offer a little encouragement and thank you,” Communications Manager Jeff Newpher told the Hood County News. “If they have questions at the time, they get those answered, or, if they're not sure what areas need cleaned up, (we can help). We kind of have a really good sense by that time of the day the areas that would most likely not be crowded if you went out there and started cleaning up with you and your team.”
Teams of four people will be provided safety vests, bottles of water donated by Kroger, trash bags, and grabbers to pick up trash.
“We like to have people working in at least two-person teams, so one can hold the bag, and one can use the grabber,” Newpher said. “But at least two people on a team is good, and half of the team members should get a grabber if they want one.”
Although gloves were previously supplied by the city for the event, Newpher emphasized that this year participants will need to bring their own.
“The gloves that we could get that were inexpensive weren't really thick enough to protect people's hands from anything except liquids,” he explained. “So, we are asking anybody that's coming to bring your own gloves, because you might pick up a soft drink can that has an edge on it. We just don't want people to have any issues with things that they might pick up."
There are five trash collection areas that volunteers will be able to choose from, as they help tackle litter across the community:
Newpher highlighted that the designated cleanup area on Crawford Avenue is less trafficked and ideal for youth sports teams.
“That's the area that we would love to have young student athletes,” Newpher said. “Whatever brings them all together.”
He noted that, if the teams wear their jerseys, it will also create great photo opportunities and showcase how they’re dedicating their Saturday morning to beautifying Granbury.
In addition to the sports teams, Granbury Independent School District also collaborates with the city to enable Granbury High School students to participate in the cleanup by collecting trash around their campus.
Newpher mentioned that with the help of GISD volunteers, the typical number of participants in the cleanup usually averages around 150.
“Weather permitting, this will be the third time we’ve done this,” Newpher said. “We just want people to have fun while they're cleaning up their city.”
With the Great Granbury Cleanup, Bulk Trash Pickup, and the Shred It Instead event all occurring on the same day, Newpher noted that it’s a win-win — especially for residents and tourists who get to see how pristine the community looks.
“I like having them all on the same day, just because on Sunday you go out and you go, ‘Isn't this town really beautiful?’” he said.
Once an area has been fully cleaned, volunteers should leave their trash bags at the cleanup site for city staff to collect later. Volunteers will also need to ensure that they return their vests and grabbers to the “back porch” of City Hall.
To participate in the Great Community Cleanup, volunteers need to be at least 7 years of age, as safety is a priority when picking up trash along highly trafficked areas.
“Some of these places that people go are right on the side of the road, and we just want everybody that participates to be of an age where they'll understand the safety video and the concerns,” Newpher explained.
To register for the Great Granbury Cleanup, visit granbury.org/cleanup online. An Under 18 Consent Form can also be found at the same link.
