Residents are being called upon to don their work gloves and clear green spaces of litter in their communities on Saturday. The Towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley are looking for volunteers to clear debris from parks, pocket gardens, the Friendship Trail, community gardens and the banks of the Sheep River in the annual Project Green Day community clean up. Registration is May 26 at 9 a.m. in the Scott Seaman Sports Rink where volunteers meet to collect gloves and garbage bags before picking up garbage in an area of their choice. Volunteers can return for a barbecue lunch provided by the Foothills Lions Club. “We want to make sure the community looks good for the beginning of the tourist season,” said Sharlene Brown, Black Diamond chief administrative officer. “Anybody who participates has that same goal whether it’s along the river banks, the highway or along the community garden. Having a clean community says something about the pride people have in our community.” Brown said the annual initiative gives participants a sense of satisfaction. “Everybody who participates takes pride in our community because we are such a great place,” she said. “I’ve been in attendance to all of them since the beginning.” Volunteers clear litter left behind during the colder months from pocket gardens in the historic downtown, parks and along the Sheep River. “Whether it flows down from the river to people disposing of their garbage inappropriately or the wind picking up people’s bags from their backyard, all of those things have an impact on the community pride,” she said. “It’s two fold. You get the community together and you get the pride in making your community a better place.” Community organizations often get together each year to participate in cleaning up their communities, according to Les Quinton, parks and recreation manager. More young people are involved this year including Cub and scout groups and students from Oilfields High School who will do their own clean up initiative on Friday, Quinton said. “We’re trying to get youth involved,” he said. “It’s nice to have this big clean up and to have the volunteers’ help.” Quinton said he would ideally like to see upwards of 60 volunteers help out during Project Green Day. “That would be enough to do both towns quite easily,” he said. “It gets people involved with their municipality. It makes them take a little bit of ownership in our town and it gets people together to socialize, which are all things you want to see in your community.”
