EDITOR – On 12 June I drove past Chelmsford Park, scanning as I usually do for signs of persons up to no good. What an encouraging sight met my eyes!
I stopped my car and went over to encourage a smiling mother, who, while Granny watched her two pre-schoolers on the swings, had filled a number of large bags with litter and plenty more to go! Said she often did this.
Two enterprising individuals – one up an enormous mango tree, his partner catching below, filled their bags. A vagrant sitting on a bench surrounded by litter, surveyed the scene while soaking up the afternoon sun, as the smiling lit-picker bent and picked and bent and picked a large amount of clean and new-looking, polystyrene packaging.
Could the huge dismantled brand new TV screen at the bottom of the lane to Ridge Road have been unpacked here? I wondered.
My mind went back 40 years, when I used to collect my two pre-schoolers from Glenridge Nursery School and enjoy a carefree picnic lunch in the welcome shade under the trees in the impeccably kept Chelmsford Park. Never once was it necessary to look back over my shoulder to ensure our safety.
Today, I read in Berea Mail of a zealous visionary who is leading a clean-up revolution in Glenwood, and who do I see among her co-workers? The same smiling mother from Chelmsford Park and her husband and children! These children’s school teachers will be able to get on with the serious matter of teaching them the three R’s instead of having to spend precious time indoctrinating them not to litter, because R – for Responsibility, was learned, by example, at home.
On behalf of many, I’m sure, a heartfelt thank you to all who are selflessly going about the happy business of restoring Glenwood for the benefit of our entire community.
Bobby Thomas
Glenwood
