THAT TIME OF YEAR IN BLOOMING GROVE- SPRING CLEANUP!

By Edie Johnson

BEFORE

What even WAS this disgraceful mess from? There is an airbnb in the area and while not terribly loud residents in the area can hear the "music" on frequent weekend evenings.

A strip of property along the Lake's edge is privately owned by a resident on Turtle Knoll. The Lake itself is owned by the Town of Blooming Grove, while the surrounding homes and Temple are Village of South Blooming Grove.

AFTER A NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANUP

Lake Hildegard has been restored to its natural beauty.

Garde is on patrol with a few ducks while Hilde is busy building a nest for

the cygnet chicks they hope to raise this season.

Overflowing trash containers along Prospect Rd. combined with refuse that some ....well, slobs just toss out their car window

Every year in recent memory, Blooming Grove has worked together with residents to accomplish a near unbelievable weekend of litter and trash refuse cleanup along the roadsides and parks. The result is usually astonishing, and that is helped by the Town providing the needed tools to make it easier, (trash bags, gloves, a picker and treats), and a volunteer group called Blooming Grove Clean to organize the process. This year it will be held on Saturday, April 25 and 26.

The roadside trash this season, along with people who just DUMP bags of garbage in forested areas like Prospect Road, is much worse than usual. So let's show some residents and/or visitors who don't seem to understand that 'home maintenance' includes both the interior of their home AND respect for the land that surrounds our community it how living in the country is supposed to be done. If the mess was made by Airbnb visitors, the nearby home manager could receive a very stiff fine.

Three weeks ago I took a drive to Turtle Knoll and the edge of Lake Hildegard, where a pair of Mute Swans come to nest every year. I always look to see if they have arrived once we are into March. They leave as the Lake ices over in late December or January, and then return in the Spring. This year they actually returned the exact same week that they returned last year. (the week of March 14). They came back despite having, for the first time, lost 5 of their 6 cygnet chicks within weeks of birth last Summer. With major housing construction and related disruption of a usual predator range, possible septic infiltration during some lakeside building, an exceptionally hot spell in Summer, and heavy algae impacting their environment, their loss was a stark reminder of the benefit that swans offer us as a measure of the health of our environment. And so it was gratifying to see Mom and Dad swan (Hilde and Garde) on the far side of the lake in the second week of March. They were so far off toward the Southwest corner that I couldn't determine if Junior (their one remaining cygnet from last year) had returned with them, especially since there were also a dozen or two ducks splashing about and snacking.

But when I returned to see how they were doing 5 days later, the swans were fine. Garde was out patrolling the lake while Hilde appeared to have gone into the high reeds to build their nest. Sadly, I was horrified to see that the little parklike cove where they usually hang out toward sunset seemed to have been turned into some kind of UNKEMPT PARTY CAMP. And so, there is a chance that we will no longer get a chance to watch them up close since they have t he good sense not to come near a trashy mess.. There was cardboard and large sheets of paper strewn everywhere, a couple of benches set in the middle, and strange placards nailed to two of the trees. Seeing an especially beautiful environmental area turned into a growing trash heap was sickening. But there are responsible people as well as some who are not. Several days later when I stopped to take a photo or 2, a nice young man from one of the houses up on Turtle Knoll pulled his car over and we chatted. He said that he and his neighbor up on the Knoll had seen it and planned to clean it up for Blooming Grove Clean. I practically shouted "Hallelujia". Who had made the mess, I can't be sure. Neither am I sure who cleaned it up ... someone from Town Hall or the Highway Department, or possibly an adjacent neighbor? But my best guess is that Peter from the other side of the Lake appears to have saved that beautiful spot and serene view of Lake Hildegard that still looks like it did in days gone by. He and his neighbor probably did not want to look at that mess every day or wait until the regular Blooming Grove Clean on April 25-27. It's a mini-miracle that they succeeded in perfectly restoring one of the most special views of our Town.

Given the extent of roadside trash this year, I suggest that anyone who can should get an early cleanup start. That will also provide you with an understanding of what you are up against on the 25th and 26th, and an opportunity to call the Town Highway Department if you see something that you are unable to remove yourself, and if it happens to rain, you can work around it. Also, for many people it is much easier to clean up their share of roadside in 2 or 3 separate hours. The process will be made easier if volunteers call the organizers who are keeping track of who is taking care of cleaning each section of road (bgclean3@gmail.com)

The Blooming Grove Highway Department makes a special effort to pick up the trash bags that are set out roadside during this event, and Town Officials take great pride that the majority of residents still know what is required to keep Blooming Grove the beautiful town that it has always been.