By Chris Frost
Eagle Times News Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — Engaged residents showing pride for the city of Claremont took to the streets and parks during the Fourth Annual Claremont Cleanup on Friday, Sept. 22.
The cleanup, sponsored by the Ink Factory, drew approximately 45 people, including 10 Ink Factory employees, who focused on places like Grisson Lane, the boat launch on River Road and Washington Street.
Ink Factory owner Jeff Barrette was tired of seeing trash accumulate in the summer months, so he organized the cleanup.
“I live here, walk a lot, so I see things and pick them up, and it’s a need,” he said. “The greatest need is at the corridor of the river. All the side banks on the river have a lot of trash.”
He said the city takes the trash away and provides the volunteers with supplies, and he expects to collect about 2,000 pounds of trash by the end of the cleanup.
Craig Fairbank works at the Ink Factory and said he’s picked up trash at the Walk Bridge, behind the Common Man and on North Street.
“I’m trying to keep the city looking nice,” he said. “I have a pickup truck, so I’ll drive around and pick up what people leave at the side of the road.”
He works in Claremont and doesn’t like seeing trash and beer bottles lying on the roadside.
“Have some respect for the environment,” Fairbank said. “I’ve found a television so far and household trash that people are throwing on the side of the road.”
Bob Beckley, Alex Kevorkian, and Jim Bangravi were unloading trash and planning their next cleanup location.
“I work at Hypertherm, and I do community service with my friends,” Kevorkian said. “We’ve picked up a lot of trash, and it was fun.”
Beckley said Hypertherm encourages them to do things for the community.
“This is my fifth community service day this year, so I’m using up my last day,” he said. “I love Claremont and want to make it look nice. This is something I enjoy.”
Samantha Hersom works at the County Attorney’s Office and wants to contribute to the community and clean up Claremont with her coworkers.
“We’ve been going since about 9 a.m. and found a few cool things,” she said. “Every little bit counts. We have other representatives from the county here, from our commissioners to our facilities department, and we’re all spread out.”
The cleanup organizer said the most challenging aspect is getting the word out to residents and admitted to starting late this year.
“We’ve already picked the date for next year, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024,” Barrette said. “Next year, we’re going to do some sort of horror movie theme and try to make it a little bigger.”
At the end of the event, volunteers were treated to lunch provided by Tremont House of Pizza, and Manager Daniel Caple was busy making 22 pizzas.
“Tremont has always been a staple of the community, and we sponsor a lot of things,” he said. “We always have our hand in something when it comes to helping our community.”
Public Works Director Alex Gleeson said his department gets involved each year.
“We provide the roll-off dumpster so we can collect it and take it over to Casella’s after they’re done,” he said. “It [the cleanup] is a huge help. There are so many spaces around town full of litter that need help. There are hot spots everywhere, and people just dump things.”
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