Hardy tidy up around town

PORTALES — Whoever invented the concept of spring cleaning did not consider the bipolar nature of weather in eastern New Mexico.

But clean they did Saturday at the Great American Cleanup in Portales, despite below-freezing temperatures that started the day.

The combination of the cold weather and other events happening in the city resulted in a turnout of only a dozen people or so, compared to the 50-plus people that usually take part, Portales Deputy City Clerk Veda Urioste said.

"Well, Mother Nature didn't work with us," Urioste said. "When we first tried to set this up we didn't see anything scheduled for (Saturday), then as time got closer you had opening ceremonies (for the Little League teams), our big group Taekwondo had a training session, but it is what it is, the show goes on."

Those who did participate were still able to clean up quite a bit of trash around the city, with Urioste estimating about 20 trash bags were filled.

"We appreciate those that came out and I know that others would be here if they could," Urioste said.

Urioste said another trash cleanup will be organized for the fall as usual and she is working to receive grant funding that would allocate money for monthly cleanup events.

The Great American Cleanup was held in conjunction with Eastern in Action, a program where students at Eastern New Mexico University go out into the community to clean and do various jobs for local residents.

Members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity helped clean and paint at the Portales Rec Center and also did weeding and yardwork at a Portales home.

"I think it's really needed both ways," said Sergio Uvalle, ENMU student and volunteer. "The community of Portales helps Eastern and this is the day we get to give back to Portales and it's just good to have that relationship."

ENMU student Todd Atkinson also pointed to the community relationship that stems from Eastern in Action as one benefit of the event.

"Obviously just coming together as a community through Eastern and doing something like this is really, really cool because I grew up in a town in California that had a college in it and they didn't do stuff like this, and it just really makes you feel community because there's a couple hundred kids that we have helping out today, so that's really cool."

Participants said the there wasn't much trash picked up that was out of the ordinary, just the standard grass and tumbleweeds you'd expect to see on the High Plains.

"I saw a kiddy pool, one of those plastic inflatable pools, in (the dumpster)," Atkinson said. "I didn't pick that up but one of the other teams did I guess. That was something pretty different."

Uvalle said he and his fraternity brothers made the most of their community service.

"We did it for the community, but we had fun with it," Uvalle said. "We were joking around. We had a stereobox that we were playing music with and we were acting like we were singing and we were part of a band. So we made it fun. That's the only thing that matters."