By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- Each spring, as flowers and leaves bloom, residents rummage for boxes of cleaning supplies in their closets and attics for the annual rite of spring cleaning. This spring on Beacon Hill, people didn't just clean their own homes. They participated in a neighborhood-wide spring cleaning.
On the morning of April 26, Beacon Hill residents and business owners gathered on Cambridge Street with brooms, dust pans and trash bags. Scattered across the neighborhood, the volunteers hiked up and down the hill, sweeping, dusting and picking up trash on every street.
"The businesses and residents of the community came together for this event for one purpose - the cleanliness and beautification of the entire hill," said Joe Green, 38, a manager of the Cambridge Street Store 24 and the Beacon Hill Business Association's street cleaning expert.
The event, Beacon Hill Shines, occurred at the same time as the city-wide Boston Shines event and in honor of Earth Day. The event's long-term goal was to clean the hill and educate residents about the various recycling and trash programs in the neighborhood, Green said. After the clean-up, which lasted from 9 a.m. until noon, there was a pizza party, in which families made green crafts and learned about the neighborhood's recycling resources.
"An idea to make it an entire 'green day' emerged," Green said. "We discussed our clear trash bag program, where we put our recyclables in recyclable bags. We also passed out pamphlets containing information on how to be green."
Sponsored by the Beacon Hill business and civic associations and Suffolk University, Beacon Hill Shines did not cost the neighborhood money, said Lisa Horton, a spokeswoman for the civic association.
"The city government delivered tools, because our event was the same day as the city-wide Boston Shines," Horton said. "and the food for the party afterwards was donated by local businesses. To advertise, we just incorporated the event into our already existing publications such as the newsletter and website, and we also got coverage in the Beacon Hill Times."
Businesses also donated tools, Green said. The business association provided shovels and brooms, and Store 24 gave out bags and dust pans. There were supply stations at Store 24, Suffolk University's Donahue Building, and on Temple and Charles streets.
Cars were supposed to be removed from Phillips, Irving, Garden, Anderson and Grove streets before 9 a.m., but cars still lined the interior streets on the morning of the 26th, making it harder for the volunteers to sweep along the curb and pick up trash underneath the cars.
"The cleaning can't stop with Beacon Hill Shines though," Green said. "I've had my salaried managers adopt Beacon Hill as the neighborhood where we come out twice a year just to clean up. It is up to us, the businesses of the community, and the residents to take it upon ourselves to maintain the cleanliness of our neighborhood."