The Mountaineer team protected the home field in the recent three-game homestand.
Over those same weeks, the Garbage Collection Teams kept the hometown stadium clean.
The dedicated crews with Can Do Enterprises, Rich Farms and Mountain State Waste work tirelessly after every home game to ensure that Milan Puskar Stadium and surrounding parking lots are cleared of trash and ready for the next West Virginia University game or event.
Over the three-game homestand, more than 100 tons of garbage were collected and disposed of by those crews.
After each home game, the University Garbage Collection Contractors, Can Do Enterprises and Rich Farms, sweep through the inside of the stadium and the tailgate lots to clean up all pieces of litter and debris. Then Mountain State Waste comes through to collect the trash and dispose of it.
“At the Pitt game alone, we collected around 60 tons of garbage. I went to dump off at 4:50 a.m. Sunday morning and still had to go back and collect more. I got home at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. I was up for
24 hours,” said Dennis Shulock, route manager at Mountain State Waste.
Shulock along with his crew of six Mountain State Waste workers arrive at the stadium around half time.
As fans begin to leave, the team begins to collect trash from the parking lots first then makes its way to collect the blue bins around the stadium. It takes hours to clear the parking lots and stadium to ensure that no trash is left behind.
The Mountain State Waste crew will encounter some tailgate fans who stay long after the game has ended — sometimes overnight.
Those workers — who also work through the night — are appreciative of those fans who offer some food and water as they go about their cleanup duties.
The gestures of kindness not only boost morale but also serve as a reminder of the close-knit community that forms around these sporting events.
