Crews pick up litter

Trash – unhealthy and unsightly – litters all corners of rural McIntosh County Commissioner District 2.

Commissioner Monty Grider led a team of more than a dozen people who worked Saturday to try to make a dent in the garbage left in remote areas by thoughtless people who apparently have little respect for themselves and their countryside.

Grider says he is amazed by people who throw their trash along rural roads, expecting others to clean up after them.

Associate District Judge Brendon Bridges and District Attorney Investigator Rob Rumble oversaw about 15 people in the courtordered community as they picked up a small mountain of trash.

“Myself and three of District 2’s road hands – Jason Peters, Todd Warren and Glen Tadlock – participated in the pickup,” Grider said. “These folks worked hard and steady the entire time and we couldn’t have made the small dent in the trash on our roadsides that we did without them.

“I’m not sure if we worked like we did on every Saturday for the next month if we would get it all picked up. It seems for every piece of trash we pick up there are three more thrown out in its place and this is just in my district, District 2.”

Grider said he plans to have more trash-pickups in the future.

“I’m going to see if when some folks ask for lighter traffic ticket fines or punishment, I can get them to do alternative sentencing to help us,” Grider said.

He said Saturday’s event was not an annual activity.

“We did it just because we needed it,” he said.