WHAT'S IN SANTA'S SACK? -- Santa says, "Ho, ho, ho," to Christmas, but "No, no, no" to litter! Even Mr. Claus is getting involved in this weekend's kickoff of the litter elimination effort in the Sweet Onion City.
This coming weekend two big events will occur in Vidalia: the Christmas Parade, and the kickoff of a new effort against litter in the Sweet Onion City and the surrounding area.
Recently, Howard Holman and Lisa Chesser discussed this weekend’s blitz to address the latter issue.
“Litter has gotten out of hand,” Holman said. “When I was in Japan, I didn’t see litter; I didn’t see trashcans. There just wasn’t any need. People didn’t even consider dropping their trash in public.”
Chesser added, “If we could just get people to see how unsightly litter is! People need to be respectful. We get one Earth, and we are to stewards of keeping it.”
The Anti-Litter Committee, for the lack of better terminology, began meeting about a month ago, and have held several meetings to discuss the problem. But the goal isn’t to form a committee to go and pick up trash; the idea is to eliminate litter completely.
“We aren’t interested in having committee members pick up trash every other weekend,” Holman said. “We want this committee to be active in educating the public against litter in the first place.”
“I despise litter,” Chesser said. “I have my entire adult life, and if we can just get others to feel the same way, that would definitely be a starting point.”
“I know that one day we’re going to be able to say, ‘Vidalia is the cleanest city in Georgia,” Holman said. “You can mark my words! We’ve got a lot of ideas from people putting signs in their private property and off the rights-or-way to getting our local kids involved.”
Holman and Chesser agree that the City of Vidalia’s leadership is to be lauded for their assistance.
“Mayor Doug Roper, City Manager Josh Beck, and City Marshal Chad Phillips along with the Vidalia Police Department have been phenomenal in helping cut down on litter,” Chesser said. “We wouldn’t be where we are now without their assistance.”
This weekend, the Vidalia Fire Department will drive in the parade with banners on their vehicles to draw awareness to the problem of litter. And, the Jolly Ole’ Elf himself is anticipated to get involved with the official kickoff of this endeavor.
“We want people to get involved on our committee,” Holman concluded. “If you have a passion against trash and litter, we want you to come and join with us. We welcome any and all ideas.”
You can reach Holman at 912-293-1199.
