Hi-Line Living: Havre Pride is more than just a week

Saturday, May 19, is Pride Day and will also mark the end of Havre Pride Clean Up Week, which is a week designated for showing pride in and cleaning up the community, run by the Havre Chamber of Commerce. For Commerce Ambassador Kim Cripps, the history of Havre Pride is important but keeping the community clean goes beyond #HavreClean Up2018.

Cripps, who has been a local realtor for over 32 years, said that the Havre Pride Clean Up has been going on for at least 20 years.

"When Mayor Leonard was in office, we noticed there was a problem with trash around Havre," she said about how the cleanup was started.

She added that the cleanup began as a competition two Saturdays a year when community members were challenged to go around picking up trash. If they found a special-marked item, they would win a prize.

"This idea didn't go over too well," she said, so they decided to change how Havre Pride was done.

The cleanup then progressed to a partnership with the Highway Department which provided the large bags for the pickup, Cripps said. They started putting out dumpsters in Highland Park and on First Street across from Dominos, she added.

"We would pass out bags to the schools and encourage anybody and everybody to come out. ... We figured people could get out in the sunshine and exercise and clean up twice a year," she said.

When Mayor Bob Rice was in office, funds were raised to build trash receptacles in downtown Havre, which has really helped the downtown area stay cleaner, Cripps said.

Cripps said that, unfortunately for Havre, a lot of wind blows and that easily carries and scatters garbage. She added that U.S. Highway 2 from the bottom of the hill up to Walmart gets a lot of trash from the wind, as well as the road by Havre Middle School.

Dumpsters are out now, she said; if there are branches and boxes out, "please don't leave them in your alley," she added.

"We want people to come out and clean up." she said, "I don't care if it is a ballpark, a grocery store, a parking lot."

Cripps added that she had a good friend, Bonnie Bennett, who was very involved in the cleanup and helping make Havre more beautiful. she said it was hard when Bennett died in 2014.

"It is kind of difficult without her," Cripps said.

Cripps said she wants to challenge every community member to get out and clean up. She added that some elderly people can't clean their areas, so other community members need to make sure they are helping those who aren't able to physically go out and and do the work themselves.

The Havre Chamber of Commerce has a list of areas that especially need to be cleaned and community members can contact the Chamber at 265-4383 to find out about these places.

This is also the second year the Chamber has held the cleanup for a week instead of just a day. Chamber Executive Director Jody Olson said this change was made because having the cleanup for a week will give community members who may be busy on a Saturday, a longer time to get out and clean.

Olson said that this year it seemed they weren't able to garner much attention for the Pride Week from the community but she said she hopes it did raise awareness of the trash problem and hopefully people will get out and keep cleaning.

She said she is happy, though, because she noticed that the area from the fairgrounds to Fleet Wholesale Supply Co. on First Street West seems to have been cleaned. She said she is not sure who cleaned it - county, city or a private group - but it is very much appreciated.

Cripps said she wants to stress that people need to show their Havre pride all the time and not just for the cleanup week.

She said she instilled in her children, from the time they were young, to be conscious of taking care of their town and environment.

"My family are very avid recyclers," Cripps said, adding that her kids used to be out cleaning up trash and now her grandson is doing the same.

"If there is trash, it's not good." she said.

She added that the Juvenile Probation Office used to have a program where she would go out with some of the juvenile offenders on Saturdays and clean up.

"They were giving back to the community," she said.

Cripps said that program is not going on anymore, but she would like to see it started up again.

Some advice for the community pet owners, she added, is to take baggies when out walking their dogs.

The litter on the ground of Havre has gotten better since Recycle Hi-Line was created, she said.

Pacific Steel & Recycling setting up a 24-hour recycling drop off has also benefited the city, she added.

Cripps said she wants people to realize that there is still littering going on; there is still trash on the ground.

"People need to show pride," Cripps said, "not just for the week."

"It is everyone's problem," she said.

Olson said she echoes this sentiment and that she hopes people keep thinking about keeping Havre clean.

"We are a tourist town," Olson added.

Olson said the Chamber is also trying to keep the city looking nice.

"The planters on First Street will be planted soon," she said.

The uncertain weather kept them from planting earlier, she added, but they want to do it as soon as possible.