Spring Fling cleans up

Spring Fling Cleanup Day opened to a beautiful wet morning. This did not stop the volunteers, though, from gathering more than 225 gallons of used oil, three large bins of metal to be recycled and 104 loads of non-household garbage from curbs throughout Moorcroft.

According to co-organizer Elaine Buckmiller, "This year, the barbecue grills were the most collected; some years, it is washers and some years, it is dryers."

The young people who had been scheduled to help were not present, however; after further consideration, MHS principal Nick Redden advised the event organizers that the more than 200 secondary school students who were originally to work alongside adult volunteers from 9 a.m. until noon would not be joining the effort due to safety concerns.

Eventually, the only student volunteers who participated were those of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) club.

Because of this change, coordinators struggled with the scale of the job and actively sought more volunteers to help recover all the loads throughout Moorcroft before the end of the day. Buckmiller said of the help, "Volunteers who ranged from 15-73, provided pickups, trailers and labor...[and] the FFA students provided the much-appreciated and needed muscle to make the event a success."

Pinnacle Bank provided a tasty lunch for the volunteers after they were finished at noon.

Public Works Director Cory Allison and his crewmen, Cody Amenda and Scott Green stepped up and used the department's front-end loader and dump truck to pick up the remaining piles throughout the afternoon and Friday morning with the assistance of a few volunteers. The department has participated in previous years by picking up branches and burning them in the maintenance yard, which they did again this year.

Buckmiller said that she considers the Spring Fling event a success because of the volunteer spirit shown by so many citizens despite the inclement weather.

The proceeds from the recyclables will be used to host the next Spring Fling event.