Northfield's Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts went all out for Green Up Day last Saturday. Boy Scout Nathan Ranker of Troop 759 wrestles an old tire up the steep bank of Terry Hill Brook as Scoutmaster Scott Morgan (right) comes over to help out. The large group, which included the scouts, their advisors, some parents and some Norwich students, pulled out a lot of trash and junk from what appeared to be a popular dumping spot. Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News Northfield’s Green Up Day activities got underway a little after 8 a.m. last Saturday when nearly 50 volunteers started to arrive and sign up for assignments. Don Wallace and Bill Lyon were on hand in back of the fire station along with Larry Garland to hand out work assignments and see that the volunteers had a chance at some of the goodies available before starting their nearly four hour shifts. Groups of workers were sent to various areas all over town and some volunteers had specific places that they wanted to work. The Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts were all out in force along with lots of townspeople, SHINE (High School students) and Norwich students.

Spirits were high as the groups headed out to Terry Hill, Stoney Brook, the Dog River, the railroad tracks, the Mill Hill/Bailey Road area, the Grand Union area and other spots around town. “We had more people sign up than ever before. We had a very good turnout. There were some places we didn’t get, but we got as many as we could” event director Don Wallace said.

If you drove all over town on Saturday morning you couldn’t help seeing a groups of volunteers working hard to “Green Up” Northfield. Down by the Grand union a large group was policing up the area near the road and up on Terry Hill a group of 15 Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts along with some of their parents, their and advisors, and some Norwich students had to really work to haul junk and trash up the very steep slope of the banks of Terry Hill Brook to deposit their findings beside the road. Somehow, youngsters like Nathan Ranker managed to wrestle old tires up the steep slippery, wooded slope to the road. Cub Scout Leader, Steve Carney and Scoutmaster Scott Morgan managed the (what can only be called) Herculean effort.

“There was a big dump on Terry Hill,” said Don Wallace. “They got enough to fill a town dump truck. There was all kinds of trash, even the parts of what looked like a built in TV set up and an old couch,” Mr. Wallace added.

In a new twist this year, Larry Garland and Don Wallace rifled through the turned in trash to look for redeemable bottles so they could add the Conservation Commission’s scholarship fund. “It’s not really a scholarship fund,” said Larry Garland. “Last fall we decided to reimburse one Northfield parent who sends their child to Conservation camp. There are two state run camps. One at Buck Lake in Woodbury and one at Lake Bomoseen, down near Rutland. It costs $200 for a one week camp,” Mr. Garland added.

The Green Up Day collection of bottles is just one source of revenue for the Conservation Commission. They have also had some hunter donations from when hunters recorded their deer at Mountain Deer Taxidermy on the Loop Road last fall and some small contributions from the booth they set up on Town Meeting Day at the High School. They even had an anonymous donation of $100. “We are still looking for contributions. Anybody that wants to donate to help end a kid to Conservation Camp can contact me or Don Wallace,” said Larry Garland.