Sunday, October 12, 2014

Chariton Cares (Revisited)


These photos from yesterday's "Chariton Cares" event are getting a little more exposure than intended since the original plan was to post them (and a few others) to the Chamber/Main Street Facebook page Saturday morning, then use them on the blog this morning. So I rushed home at 11 yesterday, in a hurry to get elsewhere, forgot who I was posting to Facebook as --- and they ended up on my personal page; then were reposed to the Chamber/Main Street page; and here some of them are again.

We had a good morning, even though participation was down a little. Much of the credit for that goes to Iowa State University and the University of Iowa which thoughtlessly scheduled home football games on the same day as "Chariton Cares." So many of our regulars left at the crack of dawn for either Ames or Iowa City. What was encouraging was the number of young people involved, however.


Chariton Kiwanis started the brisk (it warmed up later) morning off with a free breakfast of buscuits and sausage gravy on the courthouse lawn.

Down at the Memorial Arboretum, located between the Hillcrest Addition and Southgate Apartments in south Chariton, Boy Scouts were planting trees --- nine of them in a joint venture with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Southgate, which maintains the arboretum.


The arboretum, which doesn't get the attention it deserves much of the time, dates from 1985, when physical work began on the grounds. It had been several years since new trees were added, however; and drought and extreme cold had taken their toll on a couple of the original trees. The photos top and here were taken as the first two were going in the ground, a process supervisied by (among others) Jessica Flatt, area forester, at left in the photo immediately above.


Over at the Dual Gables House, owned by the Lucas County Arts Council, a crew was at work on fall lawn maintenance. The grounds here, with extensive plantings, are maintained entirely by volunteers.


Uptown, Girl Scouts spread out on the square and in alleys to pick up trash, pull weeds and do a little sweeping. This photo was taken as the morning was winding down.


North of the Square, personnel from Mosaic and Chamber/Main Street were doing similar work under the direction (center) of Scott McLin, community relations manager for Mosaic, and Alyse Hunter, of the Chamber/Main Street Design Division.

All in all, it was a good morning, but we'll have to talk to our universities about careless scheduling next year. Thanks to sponsors --- Chariton Area Chamber/Main Street, Kiwanis, Mosaic and First United Methodist Church.

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