Parks, Trails, needs volunteers for park clean-ups

By Sarah Shurge – Do you want to make the world a greener place? You can start one park at a time.
Five years ago the City of Wayne created a Parks and Trails Committee who volunteers to keep the greenspace in Wayne clean and free of debris.
The committee consists of: John Mills, Daniel Mills, Michelle Nedzlek, Councilman Eric Cleereman, Councilman Alfred Brock, Jeremiah Webster, Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong, Ed Queen, and City Manager Lisa Nocerini.
“Our parks and trails are an indication of the health of our community,” said Lisa Nocerini, City Manager and liaison to the committee. “When they don’t look maintained or cared for – despite the efforts of the city – it sends a strong message to those who may want to move into the community with their family.”
Nocerini has been helping clean the parks for five years now. “It’s important we all pitch in to showcase our community as a jewel for generations to come,” said Nocerini.
From the start, the committee decided to clean four to five parks each summer. The efforts include: trimming trees, bushes, and shrubs, raking leaves, picking up garbage, painting pavilions, and some volunteers even do repairs.
In February 2022, the committee launched a Facebook page called City of Wayne Parks, Trails, & Greenspace Clean-Up Heroes. It’s a page for volunteers interested in getting involved, updates about park clean-up dates, pictures, videos, and information.
The park clean-up schedule for summer 2023 is: Attwood Park: Saturday, May 20th from 8:30 a.m. – Noon. Soroptimist Park: Saturday, June 10th from 8:30 a.m. – Noon. Civitan Park: Saturday, July 15th from 8:30 a.m. – Noon. Shafer Park: Saturday, August 19th from 8:30 a.m. – Noon.
Volunteers don’t need to stay the entire clean-up. Even 30 minutes of cleaning is helpful.
“The clean-ups went great last year. We had a number of volunteers, but we can always use more,” said Nocerini. “We saw a lot of new faces and new people getting involved, which is great, but some of our parks are giant. We can only accomplish so much with our volunteers.”
Nocerini is urging the community to get involved.
“We’d love to do a lot more, but it’s the same individuals volunteering every weekend and it burns them out. If more people get involved, it would be perfect,” said Nocerini.
If you can’t make it to one of the scheduled clean-ups, the committee is encouraging neighbors and families to visit a park and take some time, maybe even an hour, to pick up trash and help keep the parks clean.
Nocerini gave a shoutout to Chris Miller, Wayne resident that lives across the street from one of the parks. In an effort to help keep the parks clean, Miller has collected over 30 bags of trash at Attwood Park.
“It takes a whole village to do this. We want to see the parks in better shape but we can only do so much with the limited people working with us,” said Nocerini.
The committee meets monthly to come up with ways to get residents more involved with parks. They also spoke with the Wayne-Westland Community Schools District (WWCSD) about ways to get students involved.
The parks in the city have a rich history as well. The committee is trying to work with the Wayne Historical Society to get more involved with the history of the parks and maybe add signs so the community can learn more about the history of the parks they spend time at.
This year the committee is adding something new. They are asking organizations to consider adopting a park or trail. These organizations will be asked to do what they can to help with these clean-ups. Anyone that is interested in adopting a park or trail can contact Ed Queen at the Department of Public Works (DPW) at equeen@cityofwayne.com.
“We’re hoping people will be able to adopt,” said Nocerini. “Any long term commitment can get signage placed at the park showing their commitment.”
If you are interested in joining a committee, you can find applications for committees that have open spaces at City Hall or at cityofwayne.com.
If you are interested in getting involved for clean-up, there are postings on the boards in City Hall. For more information about the Parks, Trails, and Greenspace Clean-Up Heroes or to stay updated, you can find them on Facebook at “City of Wayne Parks, Trails, & Greenspace Clean-up Heroes.”
If you know a group that wants to clean-up garbage in the park, contact Lisa Nocerini or the DPW and the proper supplies will be provided. You can contact Lisa Nocerini by phone at (734) 895-9196 or email at lnocerini@cityofwayne.com.
Be sure to get out there and get cleaning.