Groups join annual cleanup for Earth Day
Frankfort’s Dana Ferracuti remembers the iconic 1970s television advertisement with an Indian shedding a tear because of all of the litter on the land.
“It was a powerful message,” he said of the Keep America Beautiful commercial.
Ferracuti said he has shed some tears himself over the years about litter.
For 15 years, he has been picking up litter all over Frankfort on a near daily basis. The 63-year-old “is our most passionate resident when it comes to helping keep the village clean,” said Sue Lynchey, Frankfort’s events coordinator.
Saturday was just another day of good work for him as the village celebrated Earth Day/Arbor Day cleanup event. Roughly 125 volunteers scattered around town to help, including Ferracuti, who was on Center Street picking up trash such as beer cans and vape pens, which he says has been showing up more in recent years.
He said he doesn’t pick up litter 365 days a year, but does it frequently.
“I do it whenever it needs it,” he said. “All you have to do is drive around and look at the roads. Packaging is exploding in the environment and no one seems to be doing anything about it. It seems like the younger kids aren’t being educated anymore.”
He said children think this is the way the environment is supposed to be, and they see all of the litter and think that’s the way it is.
“I try to do my part to keep Frankfort clean,” Ferracuti said. “It’s where I live and, to me, that’s important.”
He recently watched a BBC documentary called “Drowning in Plastic” and is concerned for the environment.
“They went all over the world and did a quarter-mile trawl and they said the entire ocean was nothing but a toxic slurry of plastic,” Ferracuti said. “They went to Antarctica and found plastic particles in our oceans. You have to realize that modern plastic has only been in the environment for only about 40 or 50 years. This could be a disaster.”
The Frankfort event has taken place for more than two decades. Even during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, there was an altered version of it.
Former Mayor Jim Holland said this was the 23rd time he participated. He came in from a Florida trip last Thursday for a couple of events including this one, and is heading back this coming Thursday.
“It brings people together to do something to help our planet,” he said. “That’s a very nice thing and it’s wonderful to see this village keep up this long tradition.”
Year in and year out, no one knows what will be found. Holland remembers once an old harness for an ox surfaced in the collection. This year a group of scouts found an arrow and other volunteers found an unopened bottle of vodka and a car door. People of all ages help out. Frankfort’s Ben Borrelli, 9, and his sister, Mila, took part.
“This is a good way to celebrate Earth Day,” Ben said. Mila made her debut.
“We’re trying to get rid of garbage and plant trees,” she said.
Cub Scout Pack 270 made its annual appearance, this year working the Old Plank Road Trail.
“This is good for their community service requirements,” said Maura Rigoni, the pack’s committee chair. “We were able to do this during COVID because we picked a trail and socially distanced ourselves.”
Mayor Keith Ogle has done his share over the years and said he’s happy to do it.
“We’re encouraging everybody that this our town and it’s a responsibility for all of us to clean up and everybody can do something,” he said. “It improves the quality of life here.”
He said he is proud people are invested in the town and that various organizations including Scouts, the Knights of Columbus, the Lions Club, the police, homeowners
associations and high school groups participate.
Lynchey has been running this event since 2018 and was glad to see it return to its normal format as COVID-19 restrictions are loosened.
“It’s fun to see the civic groups come out and the individuals who want to do their part to keep Frankfort beautiful,” she said. “It’s good to see so many proactive people in our town and we are fortunate enough to have so many people take part.”