March 15, 2006 Spring is coming!

A lot of people are out raking leaves in Hamblen County, and some have started mowing their lawns. Not me. I figure that the leaves are nature's mulch for my yard. Yes, I know that's just a way to justify not raking leaves.

I can't justify not mowing though---I'll be out there soon with the trusty mower. Fortunately, I actually like to mow. I guess that goes back to my youth when getting to ride a lawnmower was the first "grown up driving" that I could do.

Speaking of mowing and raking, I still think of March and April as "clean-up, paint-up, and fix-up" months. This goes back to years ago when that was an official declaration in Morristown, and the community really took it to heart. People would get out and work hard to improve their part of Morristown and Hamblen County.

With litter being such a huge problem in Hamblen County and throughout the state, we really need to make a stronger effort to clean up our area. Travel any road in Hamblen County, and you'll see where people have thoughtlessly tossed out fast food papers, bottles, soft drink cans, and everything else imaginable.

Morristown and Hamblen County provide door-to-door garbage pick-up. It is difficult to understand why people toss trash onto the roadside instead of into their own trash can.

Some small steps in having a cleaner community are very simple. Don't toss trash along county roadsides. Teach your children to take pride in their community. When you can do so safely, pick up trash that others have thoughtlessly dropped and put it in a trash can.

A few simple acts by citizens can help clean up our community.

Recently, when walking up to the Courthouse with Commissioner Bobby Reinhardt to attend county commission committee meetings, I saw a cardboard box on the Courthouse lawn. I reached down, picked it up, and tossed it in the trash can as we went in.

It wasn't hard. It took only 5 seconds. It was a small thing to do. But it helped.