Great American Cleanup removes more than 1 million pounds of waste from Dyer County

Angela and Travis Laird led their two sons and a family friend on a cleanup of their neighborhood as part of the Great American Cleanup on Saturday. Here, 10-year-old Stephen Laird, 6-year-old Hunter Laird and 10-year-old Trevor Nuttall stop to pick up garbage on Wheeler Street as the Lairds watch for cars and hold the quickly growing collection of litter.

On Saturday, April 25, volunteers were treated to a beautiful spring day as they took part in cleanup and beautification projects in Dyersburg, Newbern, Trimble and Dyer County. The day began with kickoffs in each municipality and ended with a hot dog lunch and celebration at Okeena Park.

First United Methodist Church scheduled its third annual Mission Blitz to coincide with the Dyer County event, while many area church organizations, youth groups, civic clubs, scout troops, homeowners organizations, families and individual residents also joined the effort.

Children of all ages participated in the First United Methodist Church's Mission Blitz. Here, a group finishes up litter patrol on the lawn of the Dyer County Courthouse before returning to the church for water and the next project.

A total of 820 volunteers, ranging from 16 months to 71 years of age, participated throughout the county, with nearly half of those volunteers provided by the FUMC Blitz.

On Saturday's event, volunteers collected a total of 10.25 tons - or 20,500 pounds - of waste. Other amounts added to the county's total include 317.26 tons - or 634,520 pounds - of material collected in the city's Clean Sweep program from April 1 through 24, and 186.03 tons - or 372,060 pounds - of debris from two condemned buildings torn down by the city during the month.

Residents all over Dyer County joined together on Saturday morning to take part in the Great American Cleanup, with kickoffs held in each Dyer County municipality. Organizers report a total of 820 volunteers participating in the events.

With the Lakewood homeowners association taking part in cleanup activities, GAC organizers are able to add 6.2 miles of shoreline to the parks, neighborhoods, streets, schools and communities spruced up in the effort.

To date, the county-wide total is 513.54 tons - or 1,027,080 pounds - of waste. The city's Clean Sweep program will continue through the month of April, with the additional waste included in the final GAC totals.

"We are pushing a million pounds with all of that we got out of the way and I am sure that there were more things that were deposited in the landfills and dumpsters that we are unable to count," said Great American Cleanup Coordinator Ersley McLemore. "We had a cross-section of volunteers from the community. Next year maybe we can double (those numbers)."