Families, football players, scouts help with Havre Pride

The Montana State University-Northern Lights football team spanned both sides of 5th Avenue Saturday morning, trash bags in their hands, picking up a winter's worth of trash along the sidewalks and in the gutters.

The team started the work after meeting for coffee and cinnamon rolls with other Northern students helping out in the annual Havre Pride cleanup.

"We need to be more interactive with the community," said the Lights'

Dale Cummings as he walked down the street with teammate Seth Roemmele.

They started at 1st Street and eventually met with players who started at the southern city line.

They then spread out to other parts of town.

At 5th Avenue and 1st Street, Kim Cripps, longtime organizer of Havre Pride, sat in her van, coordinating the effort.

She sent volunteers out to various parts of the city, especially those she thought were in most need of trash pickup.

Scouts, church groups and everyday citizens showed up for the event, she said. There was a healthy turnout of volunteers, she said.

Among them, Christy Holden and her son Kendall picked up trash on Second Street West.

They make it to every Havre Pride, said Kendall.

"We're cleaning up our town to make it look good," Kendall said.

"It's part of living in a community," Christy said.

Friday's rain made the task a little more unpleasant this year, Kendall said.

The trash tended to be soggy and a bit smelly, he said.

This year, he said, there seems to be more beer bottles and coffee cups in the gutters and fields.

But going through the gunk is sometimes worth it, he said. Last year, his father picked up a piece of trash in the usually very messy field between Walmart and Kmart, he said. Beneath it, there was a crisp $50 bill that someone had apparently inadvertently thrown away.