t-r photos by lana bradstream LEFT: Tim Dickerson picks up trash in the empty lot on the corner of Center and Main streets Saturday morning during the Team Up to Clean Up event. Part of the PUSHE Program, he wanted a way to give back, and added he would volunteer again for downtown cleaning. RIGHT: Two Marshalltown residents stroll down a freshly-cleaned alley off of Center Street after Team Up to Clean Up volunteers threw away all of the trash on Saturday morning. The area of the clean up stretched from Third Street to Third Avenue, covering State, Main and Church streets.

There will be plenty of events happening in downtown Marshalltown during the next few months, and cleaning the area up for those and for the everyday residents and businesses is important.

So, 16 volunteers showed up Saturday morning for the Marshalltown Central Business District (MCBD) Team Up to Clean Up event. They scoured the streets, sidewalks and alleys, picking up trash, pulling weeds and giving downtown a little facelift.

Volunteers were broken into teams and worked on sections of State, Church and Main streets, stretching from Third Street to Third Avenue. They were given reflective vests, gloves, trash bags and had the option of using grabbers.

“The grabbers are helpful for our older volunteers so they don’t have to bend over, and sometimes we have dead animals on this gig. I saw a bat the other day,,” said MCBD Executive Director Danielle Lekin. “It just makes it easier for everybody, especially when you have cars parked it makes it easier to get stuff out of the gutters.”

Some of the people were eager to get going. Lekin said some showed up before the 10 a.m. start time.

“I would say they are really cooking along,” she said at 11 a.m. “I think they have covered everything and are now going around, doing a double check to make sure we got everything.”

Volunteers with the PUSHE (Practicing Understanding, Service, Hope and Empathy) Program at the Marshalltown Residential Center contributed their effort to the cause. One of the volunteers was Tim Dickerson.

“I just wanted to give back,” he said. “I’ve been in prison a while and being there made me realize that I was selfish before I went to prison. I took what I could, so I told myself that when I get out, I’m going to give back. This is one way I can do that.”

Dickerson has been at the residential facility since April. He said Marshalltown is a nice place. So much, he would like to find employment so he can call the community home.

A dumpster was donated by Lonnie Hogeland for cleaners to deposit full garbage bags of debris.

“We were fortunate to get good weather, have a good turnout and were able to get a lot done,” Lekin said.

UPCOMING DOWNTOWN EVENTS

Some Marshalltown Central Business District events for downtown Marshalltown in the next couple months include:

Rev Up Downtown, which is a car show, on May 27;

MCBD Presents Live After 5 on June 12;

Taco Throwdown, which will include samples of tacos from Marshalltown businesses, on June 24.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.