By Jody Guth

Ahhh… Spring! Not many 6-letter words evoke as much joy and promise. It certainly was a long, cold, challenging winter, and picking up bag after bag of garbage isn’t particularly fun – not when it’s 35 degrees of rain, sleet, and wind…but like the postal service, the Eliot Adopt-a-Block gang persevered. Hard work, but the results are oh, so worth it when you walk down a sidewalk or street and don’t have to step over broken glass, tossed fast-food cups, straws, and wrappers, cigarette butts, abandoned face masks and, well…you get the picture. 

Along with the rest of humanity, our industrious crew is looking forward to sunnier, more temperate days. It can even be a fun excuse to socialize with your neighbor if you get them to tag along or better yet, join our posse of 30 or so neighborhood trash picker-uppers and adopt a street of your own. You can each share the time and pickup together, and/or ask for a hand with your block when you’re out of town/on vacation. We’ve been slowly adding members for the past 3 years, and our efforts have certainly improved the look of Eliot’s streets. Unfortunately, it’s a never-ending battle, and we would love to have your help.

If you’d like to join you only need to call me, Jody, at 503-331-1511 (landline) or 971-302-8594 (text) and I’ll provide you with bags, gloves, and how to get rid of those eventually full Solve bags. I’ll also sign you up to be entered into a quarterly drawing where your chances of winning a $100.00 gift certificate to New Seasons is pretty dang good. Incentives are nice, but not as nice as knowing you’re helping out your community, getting exercise (no need for further squats), and not having to look at splayed items described in paragraph one (Yay!). If you must, you may also email, but a warning, I’m much more prompt with the phone. jodyguth@gmail.com

Kaitlyn Anderson and Sara Stout are our latest new members. Kaitlyn lives on Sacramento and has adopted her own street while Sara who lives on Thompson has taken on Rodney between Sacramento and Russell. Both streets have needed a dedicated adopter and I couldn’t be happier to have two more hard-working women on the team. 

Also, to those who live near sewer drains, it would be most helpful if you could be mindful of trash and leaves blocking those grates. Winter and spring rains WILL bring flooding, and keeping them clear will prevent the worst of it from affecting not only surrounding homes up and downstream but particularly your own! An excellent example of this done well is at the southeast corner of Sacramento and Rodney.

And now without further ado….our latest winner from the spring drawing is Michael Schwern. Michael lives on Rodney and Tillamook and has picked up all over Eliot on his walks but currently is concentrating on Hancock. Really pleased to have such a hard worker on board. Congratulations, Michael!

See you on the streets…