A total of 35 volunteers turned out for Saturday's clean-up of the Herndon Road corridor and collected a whopping 13.4 tons of garbage in a three-hour period.
"There was a lot of garbage and vegetation along the fence that separates the freeway," said city spokeswoman Betina McCoy. "It was awful."
The city sponsored clean-up was dubbed the first of the Take Pride in Ceres campaign.
Volunteers arrived at 8 a.m. to hot coffee, cocoa and pastries donated by Starbucks and Wal-Mart. The clean-up crew included the Apostolic Assembly Youth Ministry, Cub Scout Pack #45, Greater Ceres Kiwanis, Ceres High School students and other Ceres residents, City Manager Brad Kilger and Mayor Anthony Cannella and his son, Caleb. With tools in hand, workers started picking up trash along both sides of Herndon south of Hatch Road. The city's loader provided some much-needed muscle, carrying buckets full of rubbish to the bins supplied by Bertolotti Ceres Disposal.
To support the city event, Caltrans cleaned up the highway side of Herndon earlier in the week.
Originally planned for the 1.25-mile stretch of Herndon Road between Whitmore and Hatch, city staff and volunteers were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of trash along the road and in lots, so the cleanup was scaled back to cover the area between Evans and Hatch. The city will be coordinating a work detail to complete the job in the near future.
City officials said they are grateful for all the volunteers as well as the donors including Bertolotti Ceres Disposal, Caltrans, Ceres Flea Market & Drive-In, Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children, Pizza D'Amore, Stanislaus Recovery Center, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.
"There was a lot of garbage and vegetation along the fence that separates the freeway," said city spokeswoman Betina McCoy. "It was awful."
The city sponsored clean-up was dubbed the first of the Take Pride in Ceres campaign.
Volunteers arrived at 8 a.m. to hot coffee, cocoa and pastries donated by Starbucks and Wal-Mart. The clean-up crew included the Apostolic Assembly Youth Ministry, Cub Scout Pack #45, Greater Ceres Kiwanis, Ceres High School students and other Ceres residents, City Manager Brad Kilger and Mayor Anthony Cannella and his son, Caleb. With tools in hand, workers started picking up trash along both sides of Herndon south of Hatch Road. The city's loader provided some much-needed muscle, carrying buckets full of rubbish to the bins supplied by Bertolotti Ceres Disposal.
To support the city event, Caltrans cleaned up the highway side of Herndon earlier in the week.
Originally planned for the 1.25-mile stretch of Herndon Road between Whitmore and Hatch, city staff and volunteers were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of trash along the road and in lots, so the cleanup was scaled back to cover the area between Evans and Hatch. The city will be coordinating a work detail to complete the job in the near future.
City officials said they are grateful for all the volunteers as well as the donors including Bertolotti Ceres Disposal, Caltrans, Ceres Flea Market & Drive-In, Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children, Pizza D'Amore, Stanislaus Recovery Center, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.
