Picking up a cause
Volunteer effort seeks to clean up Gowanda
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GOWANDA -- While taking a walk around their neighborhood in Gowanda, third grader Tyler Bettker made an observation to his mom, Susan Covert-Bettker, about the scenery in town. Noticing trash strewn about the otherwise nice landscape, Bettker had an idea.
"We need to pick this up," Bettker said to his mom.
So Covert-Bettker took up her son's offer.
On Saturday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to noon, local residents are encouraged to volunteer to clean up trash along walking routes and the rest of the village. This is all part of the "Gowanda is My Home" community Spring cleaning that Covert-Bettker is attempting to spearhead. As part of Tyler Bettker's request, he wanted the event to tie into Earth Day.
"He said it looked terrible with all the litter," Covert-Bettker said. "He said, 'Don't people know better?' I was very happy to hear that from him, and he correlated it to Earth Day, saying we should pick it up for Earth Day."
The scheduled clean up will happen two days after Earth Day, which annually happens April 22, and will feature clean ups of the Creekside Park, North Water Street along Cattaraugus Creek and under the Aldrich Street Bridge. The village cleanup was a trend started during the last summer that Covert-Bettker hopes to expand upon.
"I figured we could do it. We have a good clean up group here in Gowanda," Covert-Bettker said. "Last year they were cleaning up vacant properties."
This year, the focus will be more on beautifying the Gowanda area, with the added goal of teaching kids how to take care of the environment. Conservation is something that Covert-Bettker preaches in her home to her son, so Tyler's reaction wasn't something that totally surprised her.
"We should try to raise the next generation right," Covert-Bettker said. "I thought since the motivation was there for him, I should go for it."
"We do talk about it. We try to take care of our own property and not throw stuff around, we pick up after the dog. We make frequent trips to the Dayton transfer station, we return water bottles, so we do practice and preach it. I'm not really surprised he noticed."
With the event now just a few weeks away, Covert-Bettker is trying to get as many groups involved as possible, with a lot of them coming from connections to Gowanda High School.
"We got feedback from the Athletic Director at Gowanda that she wanted to get the athletic teams involved in working on it," Covert-Bettker said. "And the Honor Society is rounding up as many as they can as well."
Covert-Bettker is still waiting to hear from groups from the elementary and middle schools, but the turnout for "Gowanda Is My Home" continues to grow as it gets closer. In the long run, Covert-Bettker hopes to turn this into an annual event, and is trying to tie in local businesses as best she can to help support it.
"I hope that maybe it'll maybe be an annual thing," Covert-Bettker said. "I've purchased several boxes of disposable gloves myself, and was going to go get a few boxes of trash bags from a local hardware store. I like to tie in local businesses. I also purchased packets of seeds for kids to go plant at the end, to add another sprucer upper."
Those interested should stop by Jesse's Home & Gifts, 53 West Main St., during business hours to sign up for the event. Gloves and trash bags have been donated and will be distributed to volunteers. The collected trash may be returned to the parking lot behind the store.
No one can go onto private property, but those who want to adopt a neighborhood are asked to let organizers know. The organizers will be happy to sign volunteer hour sheets for groups including scout troops, teams, the National Honor Society and others who want to participate.
Those unable to participate but want to donate trash bags, gloves, money, make a suggestion or ask a question, are asked to contact Susan Covert-Bettker at 698-5682.