By Bill Pumphrey, Keep Sedona Beautiful, Trustee
Sedona AZ (August 17, 2016) – I was asked recently by several new Villagers about our wonderful Litter Lifters and their history. Of course, I love to share the extraordinary story. As one of its founding principles in 1971, Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) launched an organized plan to reduce roadside litter as an element of the overarching mission to preserve Sedona’s scenic beauty. It all started with group work events on many Saturdays. This approach also worked well for forest area cleanups. The Village of Oak Creek/Big Park (Village) litter lifting was organized in the late 70’s. SR 179 had been paved, I-17 opened and VOCA started development. It wasn’t the ranch and cattle grazing ground of the 60’s anymore. Even “Harry and Tonto” left town in 1974. To accommodate such growth, KSB began assigning road sections to individual litter lifting volunteers. Eventually, SR 179 from I-17 to 89A was officially adopted with the inception of the Arizona Adopt-A-Highway Program in the 80’s.
What of today? The Litter Lifters currently cover about sixty-eight (68) miles of Sedona area roads. In the Village there are twenty-six (26) roadside miles covered by thirty-eight (38) Villagers, including three (3) miles of Beaverhead Flat.
Justine and Bill Kusner have been KSB Litter Lifters for almost twenty (20) years. You will see them weekly along Highway 179 on the mile stretching south from The Collective Sedona (Tequa), Justine in her special Boonie hat and Bill with his Pith helmet. Remarkably, they have made time for litter lifting all these years while dedicating themselves to the preservation of our forests, dark skies and much more.
We do not want to overlook our great local businesses that keep their frontage looking good, and in particular, Village ACE Hardware and Weber’s IGA have helped by providing equipment over the years. Significantly, Weber’s maintains our Village Recycling site, a key factor in reducing litter.
When you see someone along the road early on a Sunday morning, with picker and bag, hopefully wearing a safety hat or vest, give ’em a thumbs up. They don’t seek attention but really appreciate the thank you.
You can help reduce litter by increasing your recycling, using reusable bags at the store while avoiding plastic bags. You could also try your hand at litter lifting. Experience the special inner feel-good you get by directly contributing to the beautiful place we live. Call KSB at 928-282-4938 to volunteer.
