By TONY NIVENS / Community Columnist

Four vans of volunteers spread out from Chelsea City Hall on Saturday, May 6. Their goal: Clean up Chelsea community roadways in the first “Chelsea Clean-Up Day” sponsored by the City of Chelsea.

I’m very proud of this community,” said City Council Member Scott Weygand. “I saw people of all ages, some brand new to our city, and others that have lived here all their lives, come together for the common goal of cleaning up the city we all love.”

As volunteers donned bright yellow T-shirts, donated by Liberty Baptist Church, Jim Thornton, Chelsea COP coordinator, shared plans for the day.

“The most important thing today is for everyone to be safe,” said Thornton. “I’m so glad to see such a big turnout. We have a lot of ground to cover; but most importantly, we want everyone back safe and sound.”

Thornton explain the four planned routes, which were ambitious, especially with no history of turnout or clean up time.

Route 1 covered Liberty Road, County Road 443 and County Road 440. Route 2 covered County Road 39 to County Road 36 and County Road 338 near the middle school. Route 3 continued County Road 39 to County Road 74 and County Road 36 beyond County Road 69. Route 4 covered County Road 69 from County Road 36 beyond County Road 74.

Council Member Casey Morris, the City Council’s point person for the event, shared his appreciation.

“Thank you to everyone who came out Saturday morning for our first Community Clean-Up Day,” he said. “We had a beautiful day to work, and it was encouraging to see everyone taking pride in our great city.”

One community enthusiast who observed the cleanup said, “There were people with those yellow shirts everywhere.”

“This was a good day for Chelsea,” said Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer. “Counting the four vans of volunteers, the COP escorts and coordinators, we had about 75 people. That’s a great turn out. What a great day for Chelsea.

“I’m sure this could be an annual event,” Picklesimer added, “But I don’t see why we couldn’t do it in the fall too, with this kind of turnout.”