Dimple Dell Preservation Community organizes mass cleanup of park
May 10, 2018 11:32AM ● By Justin Adams
Volunteers help to clean up Dimple Dell Park on Earth Day.
By Justin Adams
This Earth Day (April 21), the Dimple Dell Preservation Community held its second annual Earth Day cleanup of Dimple Dell Park. Cleaning up the vast 646 acre park in the middle of Sandy is no small task so the DDPC needed all the help it could get. And the community delivered.
"It was an overwhelming success that exceeded our expectations," said Monica Zoltanski, the President and founder of the DDPC.
According to Zoltanski, there were over 500 volunteers (up from about 100 last year) that hauled out 5.36 tons of trash (up from 2 tons last year).
One of the volunteers was Sandy Mayor Kurt Bradburn, who said that it looked like there were ten times as many people as there were last year.
"It’s a huge testament to all of you for stepping up," Bradburn told the crowd of volunteers.
The volunteers came in every shape and size. There were young adults, families with small children and many elderly people. There were several local Scout troops as well as a mass of volunteers from Vivint Solar, one of the corporate sponsors of the event.
Ace Turley of Boy Scout troop 1013 said he was happy to come clean up the park. "I like that it’s one of the last things of nature that you can get close to a residential area," he said.
"Stuff like this makes a community," said Sandy City Councilor Kris Coleman-Nicholl, who was one of several Sandy City employees to volunteer. "It helps with our public services enormously. Especially with Dimple Dell because it’s so big; we can’t touch every part of it as a city or a county so this is phenomenal."
The 5.36 tons hauled out by the volunteers was made up of all kinds of garbage - from plastic water bottles to whole couches that had been dumped in the park. Volunteers also worked to dig up certain species of invasive weeds, such as myrtle spurge, a plant that is sometimes sold as ground cover but can easily spread from people's homes to nearby parks.
At a followup meeting of DDPC leaders, Zoltanski said that after the cleanup event, she was struck by how beautiful the park was.
"We made a huge, huge dent," she said.
For next year's event, Zoltanski said that she'd like to consider the possibility of bringing in more sponsors to help make it more of a festive atmosphere that can bring the community together with a barbecue following the cleanup.
In the meantime, the DDPC has achieved its 501(c)(3) status. It hopes to use its official non-profit status to raise funds for other projects meant to protect and improve Dimple Dell Park. For example, one of the group's top priorities is restoring the Poulsen house, an old Pioneer-era home in the park, and converting it into a small educational museum where people can learn about the park.
[email protected] | Twitter: Justin_Journal
This Earth Day (April 21), the Dimple Dell Preservation Community held its second annual Earth Day cleanup of Dimple Dell Park. Cleaning up the vast 646 acre park in the middle of Sandy is no small task so the DDPC needed all the help it could get. And the community delivered.
"It was an overwhelming success that exceeded our expectations," said Monica Zoltanski, the President and founder of the DDPC.
According to Zoltanski, there were over 500 volunteers (up from about 100 last year) that hauled out 5.36 tons of trash (up from 2 tons last year).
One of the volunteers was Sandy Mayor Kurt Bradburn, who said that it looked like there were ten times as many people as there were last year.
"It’s a huge testament to all of you for stepping up," Bradburn told the crowd of volunteers.
The volunteers came in every shape and size. There were young adults, families with small children and many elderly people. There were several local Scout troops as well as a mass of volunteers from Vivint Solar, one of the corporate sponsors of the event.
Ace Turley of Boy Scout troop 1013 said he was happy to come clean up the park. "I like that it’s one of the last things of nature that you can get close to a residential area," he said.
"Stuff like this makes a community," said Sandy City Councilor Kris Coleman-Nicholl, who was one of several Sandy City employees to volunteer. "It helps with our public services enormously. Especially with Dimple Dell because it’s so big; we can’t touch every part of it as a city or a county so this is phenomenal."
The 5.36 tons hauled out by the volunteers was made up of all kinds of garbage - from plastic water bottles to whole couches that had been dumped in the park. Volunteers also worked to dig up certain species of invasive weeds, such as myrtle spurge, a plant that is sometimes sold as ground cover but can easily spread from people's homes to nearby parks.
At a followup meeting of DDPC leaders, Zoltanski said that after the cleanup event, she was struck by how beautiful the park was.
"We made a huge, huge dent," she said.
For next year's event, Zoltanski said that she'd like to consider the possibility of bringing in more sponsors to help make it more of a festive atmosphere that can bring the community together with a barbecue following the cleanup.
In the meantime, the DDPC has achieved its 501(c)(3) status. It hopes to use its official non-profit status to raise funds for other projects meant to protect and improve Dimple Dell Park. For example, one of the group's top priorities is restoring the Poulsen house, an old Pioneer-era home in the park, and converting it into a small educational museum where people can learn about the park.
[email protected] | Twitter: Justin_Journal
Dimple Dell Earth Day Cleanup [6 Images]
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