The annual community-wide clean-up effort in Camillus Village drew an impressive crowd on Saturday, April 26.
In recognition of Earth Day, the Village holds the clean-up each year to clear debris and trash from roadways, parks, sidewalks and other public places throughout the area.
Village Trustee Anne Clancy, who has been involved with the clean-up for five years, said the turn out this year was the best she has ever seen.
The weather is a big factor, Clancy said, noting the clear blue skies and pleasant spring temperatures.
Dave Vermilya, who runs The Town Shop with his wife Cheryl, said he was very impressed with the number of teens who turned out early Saturday morning to help tidy up the community.
Vermilya said about 20 teens volunteer through The Town Shop every year for the community event, but at least 30 showed up this year – some of whom were attending Junior Prom later that night.
Teens from the Shop work on sprucing up the same area each year, Vermilya said, and it can be very discouraging to see the same locations in need of attention year after year.
Working along the canal, the teens make a point to clean up the area near highway ramps, where Vermilya said the brush is low and even minimal debris is very visible to those entering the Village. Often, they find empty alcohol containers.
There are a lot of good lessons for the teens who do this, he said.
Sharon Hannon, a Village trustee, said two Boy Scout troops – #293 Den 9, and #407 – joined in the effort, as well as many business owners.
Village Mayor Tom Grant could be seen clearing brush along Newport Road.
He’s out there sweating with everyone else, Tina Sakran said of the mayor.
Sakran recently opened Shear Impressions, a hair salon on Main Street. She, along with several other business owners, were busily sweeping sidwalks, parking areas, and cleaning up storefronts and sidewalks, in conjunction with recent plans to revitalize the Village.
Annette Williams, owner of Flowers Down Under, had hosed down store fronts, pulled weeds and collected trash along the building perimeter, and plans to plant flowers in storefront window boxes soon.
Though Williams recognized the recent surge in motivation to revitalize the Village, she said cleaning up sidewalks and making her storefront presentable was nothing new for her, or many other business owners.
Business owners’ willingness to make the area presentable and the support of residents for Village businesses go hand in hand, said Williams.
Up the street, Michael Montero had recently repainted his storefront. Though he does not own the building housing The String Corner, and cannot renovate the facade or apply for grants to do so, he thinks it is important to do his part.
Anything to get people to stop, Montero said.
He has a lot of ideas for improvements that could be made to make the Village more attractive, and is hopeful that more and more business owners and community members will get on board.
