Youth groups tidy up parks

By Sean Barron

The event tied to Earth Day, which is this week.

YOUNGSTOWN — Tyler Lefoer’s day was to have begun with a trip to the bowling alley, but he didn’t mind trading in his ball for a few bags instead.

“I like Mill Creek Park; it’s full of nature,” the Frank Ohl Intermediate School fourth-grader said, explaining why he chose to help pick up trash and debris in the park.

Tyler and his mother, Diane Lefoer, were among those who participated in Saturday’s 26th annual Boy Scout Earth Day Cleanup event, which started at the Ford Nature Education Center Recreation Department on Old Furnace Road. This was the third time Tyler, 11, has taken part in the effort.

Eight-year-old Collin McBride came with his mother, Jodie Setree, to contribute to the beautification of the vast wooded areas.

“I think it’s helpful to clean up the park so the park and the world can be better,” said Collin, of Austintown, a pupil at Lloyd Elementary School.

Both boys are members of Cub Scout Pack 84 of Austintown and also had practical advice for those inclined to toss or drop their garbage on the ground.

“I would like to tell people not to litter. Throw it in the trash or recycle it,” Tyler said.

“You shouldn’t litter; you might go to jail,” added Collin.

An estimated 450 participants took colored bags, one each for trash and items to be recycled, and visited roughly 30 sites throughout the park. Those taking part included Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, a Girl Scout Troop, and Chaney High School and Youngstown State University students.

Early on, 8-year-old Chase Toole, also of Austintown and a Lloyd Elementary pupil, who came with his father, George, found only a bottle, but it wasn’t long before his bag and those of others began to swell with discarded items near roads.

Common pieces of trash such as beer bottles, cigarette butts and tires were collected, but a few unusual artifacts also were discovered, including a radio/compact-disc player and a set of speakers.

Jacob Clegg, 7, a Watson Elementary School pupil, had more than green on his mind when he and his father, Tim Clegg, made the Saturday sojourn.

“I like to watch animals and just wanted to come out here to see nature, pick up trash and make nature a better place,” he said.

The three-hour cleanup was set up to coincide with Earth Day, which is Tuesday, noted Mike Kupec, chairman of Whispering Pines District of the Greater Western Reserve Council of the Boy Scouts of America. This is an ideal time for such an event also because most trees are still bare, and that makes it easier to keep track of the youngsters for their safety, Kupec said, adding that materials to be recycled will go to the Mahoning County Green Team.

Other cleanup locations were the Vickers Nature Preserve and MetroParks Farm, both in Canfield, Yellow Creek Park in Struthers and the MetroParks Bikeway, which runs through Canfield and Austintown to points north.