Hi-Line Living: Havre Pride

On Saturday morning, people young, old and middle-aged, were on the streets, sidewalks, fields and ditches of Havre crawling around and picking up trash. They were all having fun.

It was a bright, shiny day with none of the oppressive heat we've been having this summer.

They were taking part in the twice-annual Havre Pride, a gathering where people come together to pick up trash that has collected over the summer so the city will look spick-and-span when visitors flock to town for Festival Days.

People laughed, joke and in general had a good time while doing the dirty work. They were working to make Havre a little better looking.

To a person, they said they will be back for the spring Havre Pride.

School groups, Scouts, college students, and mothers with their children took part. Here are some of their stories.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo employees wearing red Wells Fargo T-shirts gathered in the Kmart parking lot at about 10 a.m. Saturday, celebrating their success at cleaning up the fields between Kmart and Walmart, proud of their early finish.

They carted off plastic bags full of trash.

Why were they out on a beautiful Saturday morning on their knees picking with plastic bags?

One of Wells Fargo's core values is community involvement, said Kelsey Smith, so the workers decided there was no better way to get involved.

"We don't see enough of each other during the week," laughed Ashley Betzel.

"To pick up trash," said 7 1/2-year old Alyssa Lavery, putting it quite simply.

Alyssa was especially excited about some of the trash she found along the way.

"All kinds of plastic bags from Walmart," she said.

Walmart tickets, a Tootsie Roll wrapper, socks soles from somebody's shoes, even somebody's underwear, she said, rattling off the list.

"Even a dead snake," said Kelsey. "I think it was dead, I left it there just in case."

Montana State University-Northern

Dressed in yellow Havre Pride T-shirts, the Lights' clean-up team gathered on 5th Avenue, an area they have carved out as their own, early Saturday morning.

The Northern's team captain, Chancellor Greg Kegel, said they went into the curbsides, ditches and fields along 5th Avenue, collecting the garbage they found.

There wasn't as much trash this year as there has been in the past, he said. It helps that the Northerners - faculty, staff and students - scour the area every six months and pick up the trash.

"Every year we find less and less," he said.

The college loves to help out in the civic life of Havre, the chancellor said.

It's the thing to do and it's fun, he said. It's a good example for students, the chancellor said.

There were a few bumps on the road, he said. The men's basketball team showed up to do their civic duty a week early. They came the previous Saturday, he said.

But the women's basketball team showed up bright and early last Saturday, and took part in the effort, along with other student groups who pitched in for the cleaning effort.

Bullhook Bombshells

Charlotte Gregori is a member of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and knew of the Havre Pride cleanup as a worthwhile community effort.

So she convinced her teammates on the Bullhook Bombshells, Havre's new roller derby team, to join in the effort.

Five showed up with a total of six of their children and headed toward the area between Havre Middle School down to the Border Patrol Station.

As far as longtime Havre Pride activists can remember, no one has ever cleaned up that area.

It looked it, team members said.

They split up the teams and went down both sides of the street. They found lots of cigarette butts, fishing lines and beer cans.

"I was surprised there were so many beer cans that close to the jail," said team member Amber Wells.

The street's condition would have been bad in any event, but it was made worse by the severe July 4 storm.

Being a fledgling group, this was the first time Bullhook Bombshells took part in a cleanup, but next time the Chamber puts out the call, they will answer, Wells said.

Cub, Boy and Girl Scouts

The Scout groups are regulars at Kmart parking lot. For years, they have cleaned up the fields surrounding Kmart and both sides of 2nd Street.

Often, they gathered at Kmart's lot to embark on various Scout ventures. They keep an eye on the fields, knowing they will be back to clean them up.

Among the delegation were Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Scout leaders, some parents and a youngster with a T-shirt reading "Future Scout."

The Scouts found their usual share of garbage that had been thrown out of windows and plastic bags from the area stores, said Anthony Cammon, a Scout leader.

Cammon was hardly surprised at what they found. He is a member of the Optimist Club, and they frequently walk a two-mile stretch of Highway 2 picking up garbage.

Part of the effort of cleaning up the Kmart area is that it leaves a cleaner Havre. The other part is the lesson it teaches the Scouts about their work in behalf of the community.

Community involvement is an important part of what Scouting is all about, he said.

He'd like to think that businesses and individuals would take care of the property in their vicinity and clean up the garbage that lands, but he knows that's not always practical. That's why he is glad there are events like Havre Pride.

But he thinks that Scouts will be less likely to litter because of their Havre Pride involvement.

An old Scout saying, he said is that when you visit someplace "take back only pictures, leave only footprints."