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Parks, Trails, and Greenspace Clean-Up Heroes

By Sarah Shurge
Do you want to make the world a
greener place? You can start one
park at a time.
Four years ago the City of Wayne
created a Parks and Trails Commit-
tee who volunteers to keep the green-
space in Wayne clean and free of
debris.
The committee consists of: John
Mills, Michelle Nedzlek, Eric Cleere-
man, Councilman Alfred Brock, Jer-
emiah Webster, Wayne Police Chief
Ryan Strong, Ed Queen, and Lisa No-
cerini.
“The group is dedicated volun-
teers that have a love for the environ-
ment and understand the city has
financial challenges and not enough
employees to keep up with the main-
tenance of the parks,” said Lisa No-
cerini, City Manager and liaison to Join in the fun and love the place you live by volunteering at the parks clean-up.
the committee. tion. help,” said Nocerini. tries will be collected every day. Re-
From the start, the committee de- The park clean-up schedule for Nocerini has been helping clean member to put your name, email,
cided to clean four to five parks each summer 2022 is: Attwood Park: Sat- the parks for four years now and has and phone number on the back of
summer. The efforts include: trim- urday, May 21st, from 8:30 a.m.- managed to get poison ivy three dif- your entry.
ming trees, bushes, and shrubs, rak- Noon. Soroptimist Park: Saturday, ferent times, but even that hasn’t dis- Winners will be announced at the
ing leaves, picking up garbage, June 11th, from 8:30 a.m.-Noon. couraged her. City Council meeting on June 7th.
painting pavilions, and some volun- Sue Win Park: Saturday, July 9th, “It’s the sense of accomplishment For children and youth, the
teers even do repairs. from 8:30a.m.-Noon. Angelo De- and pride at the end of these clean- Wayne Fire Department is offering
“You walk out of these clean-up Mario Park: Saturday, August 20th, ups. The feeling that you made a dif- two sets of tickets for a family of four
days so exhausted because it's a lot from 8:30 a.m.-Noon. ference,” said Nocerini. “And for the DNR Outdoor Adventure Cen-
of grunt work but you feel so good Nocerini explained that on a good supporting that the city doesn't have ter in Detroit, another winner will re-
that you gave back to the commu- clean-up up day, there can be any- the resources, so giving back and ceive a station tour, a ride in the fire
nity,” said Nocerini. where from 25-30 volunteers. Volun- doing my part so everyone has a truck, and lunch with the firefighters.
In February 2022, the committee teers don’t need to stay the entire park or a trail or some outdoor ac- The Wayne Police Department is pro-
launched a Facebook page called clean-up either. Even 30 minutes of tivity.” viding a ride with a police officer and
City of Wayne Parks, Trails, & Green- cleaning is helpful. The parks in the city have a rich the winner will be treated to ice
space Clean-Up Heroes. It’s a page “I just encourage people to sign history as well. The committee is try- cream at Dairy Queen. The top five
for volunteers interested in getting in- up. We are going to continue to make ing to work with the Wayne Histori- adult submissions will be awarded
volved, updates about park clean-up these efforts as much as we can but cal Society to get more involved with with gift cards from the committee.
dates, pictures, videos, and informa- we need volunteers and we need the history of the parks and maybe If you are interested in joining a
add signs so the community can committee, you can find applications
learn more about the history of the for committees that have open
parks they spend time at. spaces at cityofwayne.com.
Parks are a wonderful place to If you are interested in getting in-
bring people together, which is why volved for clean-up, there are post-
the committee is hosting a “Fun in ings on the boards in City Hall. For
the Park” art contest for children more information about the Parks,
and adults. The contest started May Trails, and Greenspace Clean-Up He-
2nd and runs through May 28th. roes or to stay updated, you can find
Submissions can include photos, them on Facebook at facebook.com/-
hand-drawn pictures, paintings, wa- cityofwaynecleanup-crew.
tercolors, and collages. Sculptures If you know a group that wants to
and large items aren’t accepted be- clean-up garbage in the park, contact
cause they won’t fit in the box. En- Lisa Nocerini or the Department of
tries should be related to the City of Public Works (DPW) and the proper
Wayne Parks, Trails, and Green- supplies will be provided. You can
spaces. contact Lisa Nocerini by phone at
You can drop your submissions (734)722-2001 or email at lno-
off at City Hall. There is a table with cerini@cityofwayne.com. Or contact
a tote in the main hallway outside of Ed Queen at equeen@cityofwayne-
the City Council Chambers where en- .com.
The Wayne Dispatch · May 2022 · 7