Things to Love About Skyway: Volunteerism

It's the end of October, and Skyway, like any other place, is abuzz with political talk and a little temporary disagreement over annexation, yet when it comes to volunteerism, we come together twice a year to clean up litter and tidy our public gardens.

Our West Hill Community Association Fall Cleanup was held in miserable, wet weather on Saturday, October 27, yet ten volunteers managed to collect over 30 bags of trash, a large sofa, a dresser, car struts, Christmas decorations, a car bumper, a bowling ball (always find at least one),some tubs of trash, and other assorted nasties. 

Special recognition goes to Theresa McLean, who selects the 'treasure trove' areas for each cleanup twice a year, and Don Sorenson, who drives the truck around to pick up all the bags, and always manages to collect a good portion of the really heavy stuff with a little help from friends.  Don and Theresa also coordinate with King County Adopt-a-Road for supply delivery (vests, hardhats, bags, gloves), and collection of the waste pile.

On Saturday, our volunteers enjoyed hot tea, coffee and breakfast snacks in the morning at the firehouse, and then returned at noon, wet and cold, to a magnificent hot lunch of four entrees catered by Lakeside Bistro, with discount coupons also available.

On my street, I collected a big pile of wet, unwanted Savings Source ads (see photo), among other things.  If these are a nuisance in your neighborhood, I'd appreciate if you could sign my petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-seattle-times-stop-littering-our-nei...

But back to my story--despite lower turnout than usual for a cleanup due to weather, this one, like all of them, was a huge success in terms of how much was accomplished by just a few volunteers.  

We have a strong spirit of volunteerism on the West Hill, and it's but one of the things I love about Skyway.