Residents saved $125 or more in dump fees during the neighborhood association's annual cleanup.
By BRENDA GOODMAN
Published May 16, 2003
The sign outside Willie Mitchell's barbershop at 1010 W Grace St. reads, "look better, feel better."
That goes for his customers and his community.
Mitchell, who has trimmed beards and buzz cuts at his one room shop in West Riverfront for the past 43 years, watched silver and blue garbage trucks lumber by his open front door last Saturday. The trucks were part of an annual cleanup organized by the West Riverfront Neighborhood Association, an event now in its 11th year.
"I can't stand having all this junk around," said Mitchell, who stopped mid shave to wave at a passing group of volunteers. "I put stuff out for them every year, and I don't know why more people don't take advantage of the opportunity."
Still, plenty did.
Cheryl Lippit and her daughter worked all day and all night to pile carpet scraps, old furniture and tree branches for pickup. She was tired but grateful when a truck pulled up to take it away.
"It is a big relief. The yard looks 100 times better," Lippit said. "I was able to get some old stuff out of the house that's been here since I moved."
Ruth McNair, assistant president of the West Riverfront Neighborhood Association, said people were lucky they didn't have to pay to haul their trash to the dump. McNair's group teamed up with Tampa's Department of Solid Waste, the Department of Code Enforcement and the parks department's Neighborhood Environmental Action Team, or NEAT, program to organize the event.
Many residents in this lower-income district saved $125 or more in dump fees, said Eugene McKinnie, a supervisor with the Department of Solid Waste.
Others just needed some able bodies to help.
"It's wonderful that they do this," said Charlotte Nichols, a 29-year West Riverfront resident whose doctor has advised her to avoid heavy lifting. "It's hard for me to pick things up. This is the only way for me to get rid of the big things."
Nichols and her neighbor both put out sizable piles.
"Can you believe it?" asked McNair, who drove behind the city truck. "Can you believe what accumulates in a year's time?"
By the end of the afternoon, the trucks hauled off an estimated 50 to 60 tons of trash, McKinnie said.
Among the items: an old toilet, tires, mattresses, shopping carts, insulation, a bathroom sink, air filters, broken toys, couches with exposed springs, abandoned campaign signs, busted garden hoses, a radiator, broken TVs and computers, pet carriers, termite-eaten wood panels and wicker lawn chairs.
Some of the trash wound up another man's treasure.
Ernel Garwood, called "Mr. Scrap" by his co-workers at solid waste, saved four aluminum tire rims, all still boxed and in good condition.
Twelve-year-old Tarshanna Blanks, an avid bowler, looked over a black bowling ball before tossing it into the garbage truck's powerful hydraulic jaw.
"This is a 10-pounder," she said. "I use 12."
Not a lot impresses Tarshanna, who has been coming to the cleanup since before she can remember. Old scrapbooks of the event show her as a skinny 4-year-old, hiding behind someone's knees. In another picture, she's a baby in someone's arms.
"She's a good girl," said McNair, her great-grandmother. "She gave up a bowling banquet to be here today. She wouldn't miss this."
Others, such as city code enforcement officer Raphael Kelly, came to help out even though he's been transferred into another district.
"You've got to give back to the community, and the people in this neighborhood really appreciate that," he said. "It's not just collecting a paycheck every 15 days."
