Saturday morning’s chilly temperatures didn’t deter a group of volunteers from beautifying downtown Bruceton Mills for the second year in a row.
A clean town is a happy town, explained organizer Hunter Thomas, a Bruceton native and Preston County Commission candidate.
“If you have a clean-down, you’re going to bring business and bring people in. It’s just a clean town is a good town. That sums it up,” Thomas said.
Last year, Thomas started his business, Tri-State Insurance Group, in downtown Bruceton. He noticed the dirty streets with pea gravel, cinders and unpainted curbs.
“And I just said, I’m going to do a town clean-up. So I started planning it last year, and we got about a group of, I don’t know, 75 people in here and we cleaned the streets and painted the curbs and went to the park and ride and along Little Sandy’s and BFS and picked up all the trash and it turned out good. So we’re just trying to continue that year after year to maintain Bruceton,” he said.
Laura Dulaney, owner of Big Sandy Brewing Company and a member of town council, said she thinks the clean-up effort is great and shows a sense of pride in the community.
“It’s a nice time for people to take ownership in the community and clean up the downtown area.” Dulaney. “Last year was the first year that it was organized, and it made a huge difference.”
The county’s litter control officer Jay Sowers also came out to help.
“I love it. That’s why I show up and, you know, I mean it helps me tremendously,” Sowers said.” … The last one we had I was so impressed.”
Girl Scouts from Troop 5118 in Bruceton also participated.
“We’re teaching the girls to grow up and serve their community and that’s a lot of what we do,” said assistant troop leader Heather Parks. “This is one of their community service projects within our troop.”
In the coming weeks, the troop will be doing outdoor stuff, learning about campfires, hiking, and leave no trace.
“So this is a perfect thing that goes along with that,” Parks said.
Thomas said he’s appreciative to all those who showed up to help out.
“I think we have great people here in Bruceton and in the county,” Thomas said. “Growing up, I was always taught to give more than you receive. And that’s how I am. And I think that’s how a lot of people are around here. And I just appreciate it so much.”
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