"It was a nice spring so we decided to go early this year and get things cleaned up," said Mary Jo DuVall.
DuVall has been head of the City Wide Clean Up for six years now and the event continues to be successful.
For one day in May, volunteers take time out of their day to do their part in keeping Sault Ste. Marie free of litter and debris.
This past Saturday, the fog lifted and the sun broke out for the 40 volunteers.
"The energy has been great. A lot of the volunteers come as families so the kids are excited, too. We offer the kids an Alpine Chocolat Haus ice cream cone when they are done. They are all here for the right reason to help clean up our town," DuVall said.
The bags and gloves were supplied and when the volunteers filled their bags, they left them on the curbside so city workers could pick them up.
And there were a lot of bags.
"We had about 80 full bags of garbage. After our winters, there is always a lot of garbage that needs to be picked up," DuVall said.
Marcey Thorne was part of a group from the Community Action Agency which included some adults and some young ones, too.
"We are cleaning the block around the agency building. We are surprised just how many cigarette butts there are on the ground. There were so many in the parking garage, too," Thorne noted.
As the sunshine broke out, Thorne did admit that they would rather be at home working in their own yards, but were more than willing to come in at 9 a.m. to volunteer and help make the city beautiful.
Thirteen-year-old Ray was one of four in his family who got their hands dirty.
"It's good to help the world and keep it clean and make sure the land is not polluted," Ray said.
DuVall added that several local businesses donated gift cards for the cause which were handed out to the volunteers during the event.
