Havre Pride 'The biggest one ever'

Havre Daily News/John Kelleher

Bob Anderson, director of the YouthBuild program at Montana State University-Northern, checks a bag of recyclables at the Recycle Hi-Line station at 5th Avenue and 1st Street Saturday morning during Havre Pride Day.

Lorrie Cofer stood in the parking lot at 5th Avenue and 1st Street early Saturday morning, sorting through a large container of plastic materials as part of Havre Pride Day.

The plastic would soon be taken to her employer, Walmart, where it would be crushed and recycled.

Bob Anderson stood next to her.

He had a large rack in front of him that held bags in which goods headed toward recycling were stored.

"YouthBuild built these racks, so I figured I should come out and see how they are working," said Anderson, director of YouthBuild, the program at Montana State University-Northern that prepares young people for construction jobs. The racks seemed to be working well, he said.

Cofer and Anderson were just two Havre residents who came out to help at Havre Pride Day, which happens each fall and spring. Volunteers for two decades have gone into neighborhoods, collected months' worth of trash from streets, sidewalks and lots. They bring the trash back.

In recent years, Recycle Hi-Line has joined the effort, encouraging people to bring in recycleable materials.

As Cofer and Anderson looked up, they could see lines of cars, vans and trucks full of materials to recycle.

"It was busy. It was non-stop," said Kim Cripps, the longtime chair of the Pride program. "There wasn't much time to sit down."

Saturday's nice weather made it more attractive for people to come out, she said.

Northern students and staff joined in, as did several families and neighborhood groups, she said.

"We were fortunate to have so many people," she said.

"This was the biggest one ever," said Candi Zion, the chair of Recycle Hi-Line.

More people came and they dropped off more recyclable materials, she said.

Things went faster, she said, because people are beginning to understand how the plastics have to be separated before they are brought in.

"I'm tickled by the number of people who showed up," she said. "It has given us a tremendous amount of satisfaction," she said of the volunteer organizers.

The recycle drive is held the third Saturday of every month.

"We are getting ready for next month," she said.