Home is where the heart is Love Lodi clean-up event brings city together
Love Lodi left me grimy and sweaty — but feeling accomplished
Saturday morning was bright, early, and Hale Park was a hive of activity. Love Lodi volunteers — myself included — had gathered there to meet with our teams before heading out to projects all over town.
Even though it was clear some of us (or maybe just me) weren’t used to being up and out among others so early in the morning, we were getting a jolt of energy from free coffee from JavaStop, upbeat music and Rooty, the A&W Root Beer bear, mingling with the crowd.
It was my first Love Lodi event, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I did expect the crowd to be a little bigger — until one of the speakers told us that more than 200 dedicated volunteers were already hard at work cleaning up Lodi Lake, and other groups had gotten an early start, too.
We mingled for a bit, buying Tshirts emblazoned with “Love Lodi” and taking photos with Rooty or giant hearts, but we weren’t here to hang out.
It was time to get our hands dirty — literally.
I met up with half a dozen other people by the “East Side Trash Pickup” sign, and we spent a few minutes strategizing. In the end, we decided to split into two groups and tackle a few of the Heritage District alleyways.
That’s how I ended up in the alley between Hilborn Street and East Lodi Avenue with Alex Aliferis and Bill Hrovat. Bill brought his truck along, with a utility trailer on the back, and 10gallon buckets.
The work wasn’t easy — picking up trash is dirty work, especially when it involved loads of cigarette butts and candy wrappers half-hidden in weeds.
There wasn’t a lot of time to chat, so I didn’t have the chance to really get to know my fellow volunteers. I did learn that both of them have ties to the city’s Heritage District, and are committed to building the area up.
The best part, of course, was the sense of accomplishment.
Every time I filled up that bucket with another load of trash, it felt good. So did looking back along the parts of the alley we’d already finished, where you could only see bright flowers instead of scattered debris.
But the best part was meeting a trio a boys riding their bikes along part of the alley. Alex and I chatted with them about sports and the OneEighty Teen Center (all of them were excited that they’d soon be old enough to go).
They were more interested in what we were doing, and what Love Lodi was all about.
“I want to volunteer for next year!” one of the boys shouted. The others agreed. They were a little more skeptical when we told them they could volunteer every day, at their schools or by themselves, to pick up trash and keep the area clean, but they seemed willing to give it a try.
In the end, we cleared about 10 buckets each of debris, plus three old tires, a mattress, an abandoned stroller and a broken TV. We were tired, sweaty, dirty and sore. As we enjoyed our breakfast burritos courtesy of Lodi’s First Baptist Church, however, we were proud to be among the hundreds of volunteers who turned out for Love Lodi this year.
On our own, our accomplishments may have seemed small, but combined with the work at Lodi Lake, the OneEighty Teen Center, Grace and Mercy Charitable Foundation, parks throughout Lodi, the new pollinator garden on Elm and Main streets, trash pickup along Highway 99, and dozens of other projects throughout the city, we got a lot done.
Nice work, Lodi!