Dirty Work

It was a long winter, and the accumulated debris that was covered by six months of snow has emerged.

Crushed cans litter street corners. All those little white plastic bags the wind blew away when they escaped someone’s grasp now look like fungal growths on the bushes where they landed. It’s time for a little scrub-up.

The Mountain Express helped start community cleanup efforts in the late ‘70s and has sponsored the Ketchum/Sun Valley Cleanup for more than 20 years. Yup, we’ve picked up a lot of disgusting garbage in that time.

Our favorite was the rusted abandoned hulk of a car that inhabited Ketchum before it became Yuppified. Street hygiene in all the valley’s towns has improved since the first cleanup, with street sweepers, probation workers and such. But street sweepers still can’t reach the stuff on the other side of sidewalks, in the vacant lots and in bushes.

The valley’s towns need you. Organizers at the Environmental Resource Center in Ketchum and sponsors in Hailey will reward workers with picnics and raffle prizes.

It’s fun, it’s hokey and so small-town. What better way to meet your fellow citizens than over a garbage bag? So, celebrate small. Check the Calendar for times, and meet your friends and neighbors for a little dirty work.