President John F. Kennedy advised Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
It is in that same spirit of community spirit that I am asking all Pagelanders to do what they can to beautify our town during Fall Clean Up Week, October 17-22. We need volunteers to pull weeds from flower beds, paint buildings and do other chores that will make our town a more attractive place to live.
Our Spring Clean Up Week, under the direction of the Pageland Pride Partnership, was successful in painting several downtown buildings, as well as beautifying our parks, planters and greenspaces. Town Council members painted the columns in front of the community center.
While parks and the community center are town property, and therefore belong to the community, some folks may wonder why they should be asked to clean up and paint store buildings, which are private property. The answer to that question is that all of us benefit from having a more attractive downtown area where we can shop, watch parades or simply go for a walk. Visitors to our community develop an opinion about the people of Pageland based on the appearance of our town. We want to make a good impression, especially for industry prospects who bring jobs to our community. Many of our downtown building owners are unable to undertake a major renovation of their property without some help. Our policy has been that if the business or store owner will buy the paint and materials, we will provide the labor to fix things up.
The Pageland Pride Partnership, which is a group consisting of representatives from the Town, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Pageland Garden Club, has assisted several downtown building owners in making improvements to their property. This assistance has come in the form of grants to erect awnings, replace broken windows and paint the front of these stores. The Pride Partnership has also enlisted the help of volunteers to paint and beautify store buildings during the twice a year clean up weeks. Volunteers from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center have been particularly helpful in performing these tasks. One of the Wal-Mart projects for the upcoming clean up week will be to install paver bricks in the downtown greenspace on North Pearl Street. This will make this mini-park more attractive and easier to maintain.
The Pageland Garden Club has undertaken a number of projects to beautify our town, including purchasing shrubs and flowers for the downtown planters. Club members also pitched in to beautify the greenspace earlier this year.
Town employees are also involved during clean up week with the Town sponsoring a large item pick-up for town residents. Unwanted large items, such as furniture and appliances, can be placed near the street for collection during clean up week. Be sure to call the Town Hall at 672-7292 before putting anything out for collection to make sure that it is something the Town can dispose of and to alert our staff that there is something to be picked up at your location.
Fall Clean Up Week will conclude with a flurry of activity on Saturday, which is when most volunteers do their part. If you are part of a civic club or a church group that would like to help out, you can contact the Town Hall to get on the volunteer list. You don't have to be part of a group to help out. Anyone is welcome. Just show up at Moore's Park by 9 a.m. Saturday and you will be able to join one of the groups working to make Pageland a better place.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Brian K. Hough, Mayor
Town of Pageland
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