Residents Dedicate Day to Cleaning Up

Dozens of Farmington residents took the time Saturday to preserve the character and natural beauty of their town by picking up trash for Farmington Clean-Up Day.

Despite the wind and cool temperatures, families, clubs and school groups donned gloves and headed out with trash bags to remove a year's worth of debris from the landscape. Many returned to dropoff locations at Tunxis Hose, the Farmington Firehouse and the Farmington Library, where the trash was weighed and tossed in town trucks to be disposed of.

The Farmington High School Football Team sponsored a Greencycle event, accepting residents' electronic waste. The team collected a mountain of cast-off printers, monitors and other appliances. From the heap, some of the boys dusted off Xboxes and stereo speakers; the Xboxes were headed home, the speakers for a new life in the weight room.

The day was organized and run by Farmington Garden Club members, who enlisted teams, sent out information and baked cookies to help make the day a success. From tables at the tree locations, members said the day was successful, with a steady flow of people dropping off trash — some of it strange.

Dr. Jeffrey Tencer and daughter Olivia scoured the area around River Road, near their home. Olivia found a pair of Guess sunglasses, as well as several types of bottels, balls, tires and car parts, part of an axle and the bottom of a safety cone.

Olivia's passionate about disposing of the plastic rings that group soda cans together and said she found several on Saturday.

The pair continues the project from year to year because "it's good for the environment," Olivia said.

Annie Krist and Nickole Morris, both 12, joined the Green Team at Irving A Robbins this year and took part in Clean-Up Day for the first time, spending an hour removing litter from around Farmington High School.

"When we grow up we can teach our children and they'll have a better environment," Annie explained.

Julie Wright, 16, made the yearly trek along Route 6 and Reservoir Road to pick up trash with her mom, Sharon Wright. The pair brought in 17 pounds of trash.

Julie said it's important to pitch in because "I don't want to see trash everywhere around town."

The Wright's total was dwarfed by the huge amounts of trash brought in by Cub Scout Pack 68, which last year won the award for most trash collected.

Check back for winners of the Farmington Clean-Up Day competition and trash totals.