News & Features
April 2005

Pitch in to rid town of litter
By Philip Peirce

I’m sure that there must be a few of you out there who have not heard of this operation. It’s elementary, my dear Watson. We all get together in town and remove the unsightly elements that don’t belong on the roadsides. This year, we’ll be performing this little sleight of hand on Saturday, April 23 from 8 a.m. until noon. By special arrangement with the Brookfield Board of Health, this roadside trash will be gathered in bags and boxes and brought to the transfer station for proper disposition. There are just a few simple rules to follow:

1. Generally speaking, we’re not interested in anything larger than the proverbial breadbox, provided anyone even knows what a breadbox is anymore. When’s the last time you saw one, let alone used one?

2. We are interested in paper, books, bottles, cans, scratch tickets, cigarette boxes, ad infinitum, and ad nauseam, even.

3. We do not do tires, refrigerators, and small appliances, whatever.

4. This is not the day when you clean out your cellar, garage, attic, or shed and haul it off to the transfer station for free dumping.

5. Your Master of Ceremonies for this event is the venerable John T. O’Leary, Jr. You will find him at his usual post at the parking lot at the Route 148 end of Mill Street, patiently waiting for the throngs of volunteers to show up and get their marching orders. John will have on hand extra poly bags for collecting the refuse, a special pass that allows the bearer to deposit trash at the transfer station without using the prerequisite Town of Brookfield bags, and a place to work on if all around your neck of the woods is squeaky clean.

6. If you have a truck you would like to offer in service to John, see him at his post and he’ll suggest areas where you can pick up filled bags, and cart them off to the Transfer Station. If you know you can do this before that day, kindly call John and let him know so that he can work out a schedule. He can be reached at 508-867-8426.
For all of you who have a habit of not reading everything about rules and such, refer to item 5 above. You will not be allowed to put bags of trash in the compactor at the Transfer Station that are not in the town bags approved by the Board of Health unless you have a pass issued by John.
Until that day arrives, take a slow ride around town and check out the garbage that lines the edges of our streets, especially those streets that are closest to the town’s borders, or the ones where the scenery lets the careless person drop whatever is in his/her hand to the side of the road without anyone knowing it. When you read this, I suspect the white stuff will pretty much be history, and the clutter will be on display for all to see.

Let’s make our town a place to be proud of. Let’s make it worthwhile to stop and smell the roses. We do have a beautiful town, and it deserves all we can do to preserve its beauty.