LP_052418

22 | May 24, 2018 | The Lockport Legend life & arts
lockportlegend.com
Nearly 100 volunteer at annual Clean Sweep
Mary Compton
Freelance Reporter
From a senior resident to
a kindergarten Tiger Scout,
Lockport and Homer Glen
residents came together
Saturday, May 19, for Main
Street Lockport’s annual
Clean Sweep.
Thirty ROTC cadets from
Lockport Township High
School and several Cub
Scouts from Pack 64 made
up the most of the volunteers
who showed up for the event
aimed at cleaning up and
beautifying the downtown
area.
Ishar Marrero, a sophomore
from LTHS, was the
PO for event.
“I love doing community
service, it’s fun,” Marrero
said. “When I drive past this
street and see all the flowers,
I think I helped do that.
I think it’s important to see
how clean the streets are. It
makes residents happier to
see the difference.”
At Lockport Township
High School, 40 hours of
community service are required
for graduation. Ishar
completed her required 40
hours the first semester in
her freshman year.
Matthew Kranz, an ROTC
cadet from LTHS, was happy
to volunteer to help the
community.
“I love helping the community,”
Kranz said. “Today
is just to make things better,
everyone has to come
together and finish it. I have
some great friends out here
helping as well.”
Sean Tunney, a lifelong
Lockport resident, was happy
to be joining other cadets
as well.
“I’ve always enjoyed this
event and I enjoy doing a bit
of hard work,” Tunney said.
“It’s keeping my town looking
good. I love being out
in the spring and summer,
walking around and seeing
Cub Scout Pack 64 member Anthony Ackerman, 10, carries
several flowers to be planted near the Illinois State Museum
Lockport Gallery.
everything. It relaxes me.
Serving my community is
very important. I’m living
here so I need to do my part
to keep my community looking
good and in order. This
is our home. It’s overall a
beautiful little town and we
should preserve that. I believe
everyone in the community
should do their part
to keep our town both safe
and clean.”
Charlene Bailey has lived
in Lockport since 1965 and
was urged by a neighbor to
volunteer at the event.
“She asked me to come
down here and start cleaning
here,” Bailey said. “I think
this is a good project. Makes
the city looks so much better.
This is important for the
eye appeal, we get a lot of
traffic through here. This is
a good city. I like the small
town coziness.”
Main Street Lockport
board member Karen Timm
helped direct the volunteers
on Saturday.
“My family has been in
Lockport since 1860,” Timm
explained. “Landscaping has
been my livelihood. Any
way that I can help Lockport,
I want to help. I donate
my time to do the designs
and order the plants and do a
lot of the coordination.
“Because of the construction
we don’t get to do State
Street which is normally
where the planters are... Our
town is worth this. This is
our home, we want to make
Lockport the best possible
town it can be. We appreciate
all the volunteers that
come and take part in our
Main Street events... Today
we are close to 100 volunteers.
Come on down and
enjoy the business’s even
when construction is going
on. Support them. We don’t
want to see anyone lose
their business because of
construction. It will be great
when this is finished.”
Bob Morris, who has
served Lockport as a member
of the Main Street Board
of Directors, Chamber Board
of Directors and Roxie Theater
Development Committee,
swept in front of the
Illinois State Museum Lockport
Gallery. As a National
Historic District, the state of
Illinois required to have an
architect with a historic preservation
background. Morris
is that architect.
“I love Lockport,” Morris
said. “ It’s awesome to see
the transformation in this
city. People coming together
Lockport resident Bob Morris (left) shows Cub Scout Pack 64 member Jacob Chavez,
7, how to properly sweep Saturday, May 19, during Main Street Lockport’s annual Clean
Sweep event. Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Lucas Allen (left), 8, and Santos Deneen, 6, plant flowers in the parking lot area at the Illinois
State Museum Lockport Gallery.
just loving our town and trying
to make it beautiful...
We’re all out here because
we love Lockport and we
want to promote Lockport.
Things like the museum, the
canal, we have all sorts of
treasures here. We are guarding
Lockport not only for
now but for the future generations
that will be coming
through here. We have generations
out here that have
been pouring their hearts
into Lockport. We need an
army of volunteers to come
along and move the momentum.
An awful lot of credit
goes to the people who have
been investing money into
this community for a long
time. This is a city with deep
roots and we want to guard
those roots,” he added.