Our yearly Volunteer Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, May 3.

As has been true in the past, we are counting on the volunteer efforts of groups and individuals to make this happen. We will meet at the corner of Second and Center streets at 9 a.m. to organize and work together to re-mulch and clean up the downtown area.

If you or your group can help, contact me at 646-2239 (or e-mail me at lillyrs@yahoo.com) or Mike Corn at 533-2676.

This spring’s efforts are especially exciting because our cleanup event will usher in the culmination of hundreds of hours of planning and fund-raising by the Ironton In Bloom organization.

This same week they plan to put in place a really eye-pleasing floral display of pots and hanging baskets that will be watered and tended all summer by professionals. These containers will be placed throughout the downtown and Russell Bridge area, as well as along both the Rt. 141 and Rt. 93 town entrances.

As a member of this organization, I am really grateful for the ongoing financial support of local businesses and individuals who are making this project possible.

In May Ironton In Bloom, with the help of CAO Solid Waste Disposal, is also sponsoring an education program in the city’s elementary schools called “Community Pride — Littering and Recycling.”

The goal will be to instill community pride in students at an early age, helping them understand the value of recycling and the harmful effects of littering.

Who knows? Maybe with this sort of community involvement, Cleanup Day will one day become unnecessary.

RANDY LILLY

Ironton