RUMFORD — The town will hold a community cleanup Saturday, May 9, from 8-11 a.m.

The cleanup was requested by the Select Board after a year without one. In 2024, the volunteer group River Valley Community Cleanup crew disbanded after six years of service.

Tasha Frost, deputy tax collector in Rumford, has agreed the direct the effort.

After the Select Board suggested to Town Manager George O’Keefe that they wanted to do a spring cleanup day, O’Keefe asked Frost to head it up.

“At first, I was kind of hesitant because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Frost said. “I knew there was a lot that went into it, a lot of planning. And given only a couple of weeks notice, I was like ‘how am I supposed to do that?'”

Trash bags, gloves and bottled water will be available to volunteers behind the Rumford Town Hall on River Street. Frost said there will be a table set up there around the start of the event. Anyone with questions before then can email [email protected].

“They can talk to me and tell me where they want to go or ask for suggestions where they can go,” she said. “I’m kind of hoping for a good turnout, for a mixture of people that know the area they want to do, whether it be the surrounding area of their home, and people who kind of what to know what’s needed.”

Frost said children who want to help need to be with an adult. Volunteers should wear bright-colored clothing. Businesses and groups are encouraged to form their own teams as well.

Police will also have extra patrols out that morning to assist with safety, Frost said. Public Works will be picking up the garbage bags afterward and there will also be a dumpster on River Street near the former bank.

“I’ve always been interested in getting involved, but it’s a whole other level of being in charge, especially when I didn’t know what went into it, what was going to be expected,” said Frost.

Once she sat down with O’Keefe and others to plan, Frost said she felt much better about it.

“I have friends who have been going and just picking up bags and bags of trash. So, I know people have been doing it. It had not been going unnoticed,” she said.

Updates will be posted on the town of Rumford website, on the town of Rumford Facebook, and on the Rumford Connect App.

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