City of Huntington Key to Guyandotte's Neighborhood Cleanup

From all reports, the City of Huntington's personnel and equipment were key to Saturday's highly successful Guyandotte neighborhood "Shine Time." Jay Bowen sent us a copy of an email he sent to Huntington's Director of Administration and Finance, Brandi Jacob-Jones. During a telephone interview with us, Bowen also praised the citizen volunteers who assured the success of this neighborhood's efforts to stay "clean and green". In addition, he praised Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA for having one of their trucks on hand to collect clothing and other items.

Bowen told Jacob-Jones, "It was a huge success, I mean huge. Thank you and the city's employees for their dedicated effort. The dumpsters arrived on time and Scott the machine operator was extremely efficient. The people of Guyandotte and the surrounding area repeatedly voiced their appreciation for the opportunity to get rid of the piles and piles of trash blighting their neighborhood. We even had elderly people walking the streets to pick up litter. You can really be proud of the community and your employees for this great effort. Thank you."

During another telephone call, Bowen told us that the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) had their personnel on location to distribute litter pick-up sticks, gloves and plastic bags. WVDEP, also, had a contractor and large truck on-site to assist in the removal of over 800 old auto tires, which were gathered by the neighborhood's volunteers. One volunteer commented that, "some of that stuff has been up there for forty years!"

We extend our compliments to our city and state governments, the participating organizations and the scores of community volunteers. This successful community improvement project demonstrates once again that, together, the citizens of Huntington can accomplish anything we can imagine.

(The photo shows Hilltop Road resident, Connie, who was an organizer, and Hillside Drive resident, Tony, who asked if he could help. They are admiring the results of their efforts after getting the hillside cleaned up.)