Tubbs Hill gets a cleanup thanks to volunteers

More than 200 people spent last Saturday morning picking up litter on Tubbs Hill, gathering enough trash by 11 a.m. to fill a city truck.

Included in the dubious treasures were a woman’s wig, a baseball, a BB gun, money, an “I Love Mom” sign, a rusted chain, a 4-by-4 post with 40 rusted protruding nails, a sheer black dress with gold trim, shoes, kids’ jeans, a cross, a sleeping bag, underwear, an inflatable pump and coffee mugs, said Barbara Zimmer. In addition there were hundreds of aluminum cans, glass bottles and glass shards.

The Tubbs Hill Foundation had divided the hill into specific search areas before people arrived, but so many people turned out, said foundation president Mark Weadick, “that we couldn’t keep up with them. So we just told them to spread out all over the hill.”

Some worked their way down steep hills to work at the water’s edge. Several, like Alecia Weaver, crawled under fallen trees, and a few like Sam Lyons dug into small caves and under boulders.

The cleanup was the second to be sponsored by Starbucks, which supplied trash bags, gloves and coffee. Starbucks donates $10 per person per hour, up to $1,000, toward Tubbs Hill projects.

The next Tubbs Hill cleanup will be in the spring.