Volunteers pitch in to clean up East Side

By Sean Barron

High school students to retirees did their part to add cleanliness to several neighborhoods.

YOUNGSTOWN — If you were outdoors on the city’s East Side on Saturday, you may have been struck by what you didn’t see: litter along many roads and in vacant lots.

That’s because dozens of people such as Gladys Tazwell and her husband, Lawrence, were out in full force.

“People drive by and pitch their trash. We’re trying to keep the neighborhood looking nice,” Gladys Tazwell said, referring to why she decided to take part in Saturday’s East Side Neighborhood Cleanup.

The three-hour effort, sponsored by the Northeast Homeowners and Concerned Citizens Association, is the first of at least three planned cleanups.

About 100 volunteers, including students and members of churches, businesses and other organizations, registered, and most met at Price Memorial AME Zion Church, 920 Dryden Ave., before spreading to 11 East Side cleanup sites. Their main duties were removing trash and raking leaves and other debris from walkways, vacant properties and streets.

Gladys Tazwell said she and her husband make the rounds in their Bennington Street neighborhood by removing discarded bottles and other trash two or three times a week. She said she’s attended Youngstown 2010 meetings, at one of which Mayor Jay Williams suggested participants who live next to vacant lots should keep them clean.

Helping the Tazwells and others at the site near Stewart Avenue and McGuffey Road was Bennie Harrell, a retired Packard Electric employee who’s lived nearly 50 years in his Miami Avenue home.

“Our organization [Northeast Homeowners] is trying to get more people involved in the neighborhood,” said Harrell, who recalled when the area had two grocery stores and a department store, as well as a larger population.

Along with cleanliness and more greenery, Harrell said, he would like to see the return in the area of a local grocery store, along with an industrial park on nearby Lansdowne Boulevard to attract more businesses.

Also taking care of cleanup duties were seven members of East High School’s Junior Army ROTC class, who bagged trash at their school, on property adjacent to the new East branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, and surrounding neighborhoods.

Everything from the usual bottles, cigarette butts and broken glass to the less common, such as hubcaps and car fenders, were collected by ROTC students Joshua Rodriguez, Dashun Lee and Deondre Stringer.

“It seemed no one else cares, so why wait for someone else?” asked Deondre, an East High senior.

“It’s sad people throw their trash out,” added Dashun, a junior at East.

Returning with bags of litter to the field next to the library were fellow ROTC members Shakela Clark and Lo’ve Workman, an East junior and sophomore, respectively. Their coverage areas included Early Road and Albert Street.

Both girls had a message for drivers who want to get rid of bottles, paper and other materials in their vehicles: Find a nearby trash receptacle instead of tossing them out the window.

“This is our community, and people should come out and help,” Shakela said. “I’m tired of glass bottles and stuff.”

Sixteen ROTC students participated in the cleanup, noted Doug Moon, the program’s teacher. Their areas included the high school as well as a stretch from Early to Albert, along with several side streets, Moon said.

Around 40 youngsters, including several from the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center, were cleaning area neighborhoods, noted Glenda House, project coordinator. Youngstown Litter Control & Recycling was to pick up larger items such as tires and take the bags of trash volunteers had amassed, House said.

A goal of the homeowners association is to host a similar effort next month and have organized cleanups about once a month, she added.