Girl Scouts Give Communty Park A Cleaning

If you've noticed how clean Community Park looks lately, buy a few extra Girl Scout cookies to say thanks.

Girl Scout Troops 672 and 430 of Clayton cleaned up the Park recently as part of a special project. They even got their parents to pitch in and help them.

"Even though the park is very well maintained, we did manage to collect approximately 10 pounds of garbage," said Troop Leader Tina Patterson. "It was hot and muggy, but the girls and their parents were real troopers."

Patterson, leader of Troop 672, said the Scouts kept an inventory of all the items they picked up, and cigarette butts topped the list.

"We picked up over 400," she said. "Other items ranged from candy wrappers to beverage bottles and cans to cardboard and toys. I think having to actually pick up someone else's garbage really gave the girl an appreciation of the importance of keeping our recreation areas clean."

The weary Scouts celebrated after the cleanup by having pizza in the shade.

The cleanup was part of "NC Big Sweep," started by the Ocean Conservancy as "International Coastal Cleanup" more than 20 years ago to get rid of sea-borne litter that harms the health of fish, birds, turtles and other sea life. The cleanup has expanded in recent years to include all of the state.