Litter Consultant For Hire

 Visit #1449, Sunday 29 October 23, 7:25-9:45AM, 5.6 miles, 5.6 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 50s, rain.

Allow me to back up one day, to Saturday, or even farther!

Back in May 2020 I was contacted by a sweet senior citizen woman and Meriden resident who loves the city so much she goes around picking up litter on the roadsides in her neighborhood.

She somehow found and contacted me asking assistance in emptying overflowing trash cans at Dossin Beach. I don't know what "special sauce" Susan seemed to think I possessed just because I picked up litter in Hubbard Park, but I couldn't turn down her plea. You could tell from the tone of her voice that seeing such litter caused her pain. I was able to oblige her request, and Chris Bourdon of the Parks Department promptly had the cans emptied.

Fast forward three years to late Friday night (after 9PM!), she called again, this time with a different, yet no less urgent request. She had spied litter on Hanover Street that she wanted to have picked up because from her perspective, it was beyond her capabilities. Her calls to the parks department and highway department did not result in the trash being removed. She posted on a Facebook page called "Meriden Talks" and that's just what it was; all talk but no assistance. Then she called ME, looking for a solution.

I arranged to meet her yesterday afternoon on Hanover Street near the soon-to-be-completed linear trail section and helped her pick up the litter. I expected a two hour cleaning operation, which is routine for me. Instead, it was five minutes of loading discarded clothing into bags, which we left nearby. I contacted the City of Meriden via their Request For Service web page to ask them to pick up the bags and even provided photos. We'll see how that goes; I used the same web site to notify the city about the stolen sign in Hubbard Park at Merimere Reservoir. That sign still has not been replaced...

At the end of our brief litter detail she said to me, "Now I know who to call next time"!

On to Sunday.

I couldn't avoid the rain, which was forecasted to start about forty-five minutes after I started my hike.

I found the bollard at the gate, which I found was in the process of being vandalized, has been repaired. A tip of the hat to the Meriden Parks Department, which caught this before the bollard disappeared.

Looks like I-691 bridge repair work is taking place in Hubbard Park.

Which lead me to my next discovery.

I found this coupling just where you see it, on a manhole cover adjacent to the retention ponds. Finding it there, I assumed it belonged to the Meriden Water Department, so I picked it up and left it at their gate.

Only now do I wonder whether it belonged to the crew working on the bridge and someone purloined it and left it up the road from the site. Hmmmm...

Much further along the road around Merimere Reservoir, I saw this road sign.

Only then did I figure out what was going on at back at the playscape- there was a road race being held.

Since I was on the road well ahead of the race start, I decided to change my plans and follow the race route, picking up litter in advance of the runners' passing.

Following the road, I spied these stickers on the guardrail.

"Scope" will not be there after next week. Special tooling is being requisitioned as we speak.

Part of the race route.

Upon reaching the 5k road race turnaround, the rain started. I doubt anyone will be partaking of the water stop.

I reached Castle Craig without seeing The Black Dog.

Returning to the park I noticed these new signs posted around Mirror Lake. A brilliant idea that's long overdue. Now, we can only hope people will abide by them.

I went home, stripped off my wet clothes and laid out my backpack's contents to dry.