On Saturday, April 22, volunteers fanned out along the Bristol Road (Route 130) and Route 32 in Bristol while participating in the annual Elmer Tarr Bristol Roadside Cleanup.
Organizers met volunteers at Bristol Consolidated School, handing out trash bags and reflective vests. Filled trash bags were collected and transported to the Bristol-South Bristol Transfer Station.
Participants uniformly reported the volume of trash recovered was less than in other years, though still not insignificant. South of Bristol Consolidated School, members of Bristol Girl Scout Troop No. 1560 reported recovering a large number of cigarette butts.
The event honors the late Bristol resident Elmer Tarr, who was well known for his longtime habit of walking from his house to Pemaquid Point nearly every day, picking up the trash alongside the road as he went.
The first Elmer Tarr Day was organized by the Bristol Area Lions Club, who rechristened their annual spring cleanup in Tarr’s honor in April 2004. Tarr, an active member of the club, passed away in December 2003.
In recent years a group of volunteers calling themselves TarrNation have taken on the effort to promote and organize the Bristol cleanup.
For more information about the cleanup, or TarrNation, call 509-9224 or email kwa@roadrunner.com.
