So on Saturday morning, about 50 people turned out for a breakfast of bagels, juice and coffee at the Recreation Center before fanning out to pick up debris from two sites in the village and plant 15 trees at one of them.
A group of Little League players were dispatched to remove trash along Sunrise Highway from the village border with Baldwin to near Long Beach Road. The rest of the group, comprised of village officials, a smattering of Brownies, a contingent from Molloy College and individual volunteers, went down to Centennial Park. They they filled bags with garbage they picked up from along the banks of Mill River, and they planted 15 Pin Oak trees in spots in the park that were carefully chosen and marked.
Anyone interested in volunteering for a village cleanup will have another opportunity soon. The committee is working to schedule another event during the afternoon of June 1 during which volunteers will plant annuals at over half a dozen sites all around the village.
It isn't up yet, but event organizers Maureen Chiafalo and Katie Raftery and committee co-chairmen Frances Murray and Bob Schenone said the committee will be posting a sign up on the village Web site at www.rvcny.us/pridefirst1.page.
