Chris Lupole, left, and Brett Withjack work on applying a fresh coat of paint to one of the pillars at the Martz Pavilion located in Kirby Park. Lupole and Withjack, along with the rest of Leadership Wilkes-Barre’s Class of 2021, were in the park Saturday to undertake improvements as part of the Great American Cleanup.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Project draws over 300 volunteers to paint, rake and clean
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WILKES-BARRE — A nationwide effort to clean up the planet had a huge local presence on Saturday, as hundreds of volunteers took to parks all over the city to lend a hand in cleaning up the community.
In Kirby Park, the Leadership Wilkes-Barre Class of 2021 was hard at work underneath the Martz Pavilion, while all around the park student-athletes from Wilkes University could be seen picking up sticks, raking leaves and painting curbs.
It was all part of the Great American Cleanup’s 23rd year, being observed between March 20 and June 20. Billed as the nation’s largest community improvement program, the cleanup is an effort of national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, and typically includes an estimated 15,000 community events nationwide.
Saturday’s Leadership Wilkes-Barre cleanup was one of them, taking place as another volunteer effort was also underway in the city.
“We had a goal in mind to come over and spruce up Kirby Park,” said Lauren Kresge, from Leadership Wilkes-Barre. “Families are looking for places to spend time, and we thought we could enhance those family outings by cleaning up.”
The volunteers couldn’t ask for a better day for some spring cleaning: the sun shone down and the weather was pleasantly warm as Kresge and her team set up shop at the Martz Pavilion.
With a tarp laid down and a table full of supplies donated by several sponsors, the “Kirby Crowd” got to work painting the pillars of the pavilion.
“We were able to partner with the city of Wilkes-Barre and coordinate with them to plan this cleanup,” Kresge said. “We also got permission from the Martz family to spruce up the pavilion a bit.”
Kresge and her team were also responsible for building 10 new picnic benches for public use in the park.
The effort in Kirby Park was part of a citywide clean-up that saw volunteers fan out all over Wilkes-Barre to beautify the area and keep the city’s parks and public spaces clean.
By Kresge’s count, over 300 volunteers were taking part in the clean-up effort on Saturday.
A large number of the volunteers stationed at Kirby Park were student-athletes from nearby Wilkes University.
“We volunteer as part of our community service for school,” explained Morghan Murphy, a junior from the Wilkes field hockey team.
Murphy and her teammates were tasked with first spray-painting the curbs around the Kirby Park parking lot a brighter yellow, making them more visible.
Fellow student-athletes made themselves busy with a variety of tasks, including picking up loose sticks and tree branches, as well as raking up leaves that had fallen from trees.
“I think it’s very important to clean up the park,” said Drake Marshall, a Virginia native and shooting guard for the Wilkes men’s basketball team.
“We come here a lot, we should want it to look clean.”