Community Corner

Volunteers Needed for Dora Kelley Cleanup Saturday

West End nature park cleanup is held twice a year, in spring and fall.

West End residents can make a contribution to the community by donning gloves and helping clean up Dora Kelley Nature Park on Saturday.

The semi-annual cleanup begins at 9 a.m. and lasts until noon at the latest. The cleanup has taken place every year for about 15 years, said Joyce Dexter, a West End resident who organizes the cleanup along with her husband, Dave.

“For one thing, it is an exercise in good citizenship,” she said. “It helps make people appreciate the park, and also, it’s good exercise in the park, good citizenship notwithstanding. A lot of people like to bring their kids to demonstrate why they should not litter, and just to be doing some for the community.”

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Participants can meet at one of three spots: at the entrance to the Chambliss Street tennis courts behind John Adams Elementary School, at the intersection of Chambliss Street and Holmes Run Parkway near Dowden Terrace Pool or at the North Morgan Street entrance. Gloves and trash bags are provided, but local residents can bring their own gardening gloves if they prefer heavier gloves, and they can also bring grabbers to pick up hard-to-reach trash.

Joyce Dexter said the event usually attracts between 30 to 40 volunteers, who pick up 20 to 25 bags of trash. Although Dora Kelley is generally cleaner than some other area parks, trash accumulates in the stream bed, on small trails that diverge off the main pathways and from children who eat and drink while walking home from school through the park, Joyce Dexter said.

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The rain date for the event is Sunday. For more information, contact the Dexters at 703-820-6639 or at davedexter09@starpower.net.


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