FARMINGTON — An Earth Day cleanup in the downtown area is being planned from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 22.

“It’s a celebration of Earth Day and a chance to make downtown look sparkling, beautiful and inviting,” Jo-Anne Bean Palmer, volunteer coordinator, said.

Bean Palmer is working with the Farmington Downtown Association.

Volunteers can gather at the Pierce House where garbage bags and gloves will be handed out, she said. They can come anytime between 1 and 3 p.m., she added.

She hopes as many volunteers as possible, both young and old, will come help.

For this first year, it’s basically about picking up trash, she said of items that may have blown off vehicles and now are uncovered as the snow melts.

The cleanup will expand as far around downtown as manpower allows. It could also include helping to get window boxes out, depending on the weather.

“This year has been hard. Winter hasn’t left,” she said.

A Girl Scout troop has committed to help, along with members of the University of Maine at Farmignton’s Sustainable Campus Coalition. Several businesses are participating, including a team from Franklin Savings, she said.

Perhaps another year will include expanding the event and doing things like art work by children, creating teams and playing games, she said.

She hopes to make it fun to clean, especially for young people to help them develop a sense of community responsibility and pride, she said.

Bean Palmer and her husband, Chris Palmer, of Farmington bring environmental themes and awareness into the children’s books they write. She majored in environmental services and worked a number of years in that field before shifting to writing.

“It’s her passion,” Chris Palmer said.

The couple picks up trash as they walk around town but “we can’t keep up,” Bean Palmer said.

While living in Cape Cod, beach cleanup days were held so she thought about bringing people together for this trash event.

When she approached Sue Jones of the Farmington Downtown Association to see if the group would be interested, Jones told her, “‘absolutely,'” Bean Palmer said.

The event is volunteer and open to anyone, she added.

For more information, contact Bean Palmer at 778-2200 or jbeanpalmer@yahoo.com.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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