Springfield ICON will organize a street cleanup on the first day of the Illinois State Fair – Wednesday, August 7. In honor of the fair, this cleanup will be dubbed “Trash on a Stick”.
Volunteers will meet to organize in the parking lot of Noonan’s Hardware, corner of 8th and North Grand Ave. East at 5pm on Wednesday, August 7. Bags will be provided. Please bring gloves and something to drink. Depending on the number of volunteers, we will plan to pick up 9th Street from North Grand to Sangamon Avenue.
Thanks to Bill Baskett, President of Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, and Polly Poskin, President of Harvard Park Neighborhood Association for organizing this cleanup.
Springfield ICON members pick up where litterers leave off
By Steven Spearie, Staff Writer
Posted Aug 7, 2019
Armed with trash pickers and garbage bags, members of Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhoods collected refuse Wednesday evening on Ninth Street from North Grand Avenue to Sangamon Avenue.
Ninth Street will be a heavily-traveled artery as the Illinois State Fair opens Thursday, and ICON members want out-of-town visitors and others to take notice of the city.
“The first impression of a city is often, ‘How does it look along the roadways?’” said Polly Poskin, vice president of ICON and president of the Harvard Park Neighborhood Association. “Curb appeal counts. Keeping litter picked up is a way to show we care about our city, that we take pride in our city and also a way to be welcoming.”
This isn’t the first time ICON has done “Trash on a Stick,” as Wednesday’s event was dubbed. Last year, members were on Ninth Street a couple of weeks before the fair, but they’ve also cleaned up on Ash Street, South Grand Avenue, Peoria Road and Sangamon Avenue. [Actually, we’ve done Washington Street and 11th Street, too…]
Bill Baskett, ICON’s treasurer and president of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, said there is a litter problem locally. “(The pickup) is to help beautify parts of the city and maybe help people think twice about throwing stuff out the window,” he added.
Wednesday’s haul for ICON members was six, 39-gallon garbage bags of rubbish.