POSTED: October 4, 2009
By APRIL DIODATO
OBSERVER Staff Writer
Whenever Rich Cimino is walking down the street and spots an errant bottle or candy wrapper, he picks it up. If others followed suit, he reasons, litter wouldn't be a problem.
Twenty others who share Cimino's sentiment joined him in front of the Adams Art Gallery at noon on Saturday, where they informally assembled for the Dunkirk Cleanup. Held each spring and fall since 2007, the fifth cleanup amassed its biggest turnout yet. The mild, sunny weather and word of mouth helped the cleanup group grow to nearly twice its usual size.
Co-organizer Josh Curry-Bascome smiled as he surveyed the volunteers as they chatted and waited for more to arrive. One of his favorite aspects of this grassroots effort to keep local streets clean, he explained, is that "everyone is here because they want to be."
Mike Tate of Tate's Painting provided rubber gloves, garbage bags and took care of trash removal. The volunteers were scattered throughout Dunkirk but stayed linked with the use of their cell phones.
After divvying up the group and assigning locations, the voluntary trash collectors took to the streets. Target areas were Washington Park, along Central Avenue from Sixth Street to the pier, Third Street from Route 60 to Robin Street, near the Rural Ministry, and along Fifth and Sixth streets.
As Cimino drove to Third Street to begin cleaning up, he explained the idea behind the project. It originated when Cimino was a student at SUNY Fredonia and met environmental and peace-promoting groups on campus.
