Allan Appel Photo
Nine-year-old Jara Bolden was worried this adult-sized branch might fall on his foot and injure him before he successfully hauled it to the curbside — and joined citizens all over town in clearing away arboreal debris from Hurricane Irene.
His Saturday morning efforts beneath the majestic willows at the north end of Dover Beach Park in Fair Haven were part of one neighborhood clean-up among at least a dozen taking place from the Q River to West River as the aftermath of the storm brought out park friends groups, block watches, and aldermen, both current and aspiring, to organize the municipal tidying-up.
Jara lives across from the park in the Quinnipiac Terrace development. “They didn’t know the slumber party was going to end in community service,” said Jara’s dad, Tyrese Bolden.
Brett Bissell saws.
Mayoral staffer Elizabeth Benton came to Dover Beach early, clipboard in hand, to note the piles of debris that Jara and Dover Beach River View Block Watch’s Pat and Brett Bissell were beginning to accumulate along Front Street between the overpass and Bailey Street.
Benton said she was there both to monitor where the debris pick-ups were to be coordinated later and to make sure the cleaner-uppers had food, water, gloves, and whatever equipment they needed.
The Bissells showed up with their rakes along with a dozen sets of white and blue two-tone gardening gloves; their blue palms fascinated Jara and his friends.
Benton said the citywide Saturday clean-ups were a combined effort of Urban Resources Initiative (URI) and the city. She praised URI for being in the Emergency Operations Center from hour one of the storm. “They’ve been incredible,” she said.
Asked when the branches that were being piled up along Front Street and throughout the city would be hauled away, Benton said she could not say at this point.
Lee Cruz dislodging split willow limb.
Some adult neighbors such as Lee Cruz turned out to help the Bissells, who had brought along a useful hand saw.
Kid power was very much needed.
East Rock Magnet School’s Jara had his own help. Cousins Janai Gordon and London Lee, only half his age, picked up the challenge and tried to move a large willow limb on their own.
Janai Gordon & London Lee help out.
The adults and the kids finally got the limb into one of several piles that were beginning to rise between the shoreline and the street.
Pat Bissell.
Getting more active participation from Quinnipiac Terrace neighbors in activities like park clean-ups has been an ongoing challenge, said organizer Pat Bissell, who said she wishes more adults had turned out Saturday.
She noted that communication about the clean-ups appeared to have been sent out by the city and URI largely via email. “Maybe they [Q Terrace residents] didn’t know about it. Maybe they don’t have computers,” she said.
She said she was grateful that both the butterfly garden and the 12 trees recently planted along the streetside walkway by URI and the Elm City Parks Conservancy all bent with the hurricane winds and survived nicely. So did the butterfly garden, which is dedicated to the children of the Dover Beach neighborhood, like Jara Bolden.
At about 10:45 Jara had to take a break to go with his cousins as they were dropped off at home in Hamden. Before leaving he said he was happy to be working doing the clean up because he uses the park a lot. Playing tag is among his favorite games, and it remained to be seen whether he thought the rising piles of willow branches, while they remained, were a plus or minus for this pursuit.
About his work cleaning up, however, he had no doubts. “It makes you be a good person.”
Human-Caused Damage
Most of the damage to Dover Beach Park appeared to be arboreal and on the north end, with leaves, twigs, and branches of the famously messy willows covering a radius of about 20 yards from each tree. There was other damage notable, not caused by the hurricane.
Bissell rued the fact that vandals had apparently removed the gates as well as some sections of the fences surrounding the two new playgrounds at Dover Beach. She had yet to talk to the city about replacing them. That said, she was at pains to say she is “thrilled with the use of the park. How many picnic and use it as a sports outlet.”
She went back to raking and then said, “I just hope there’s more help picking up whether there’s a storm or not.”
Non-city clean-up.
Jara asked her if might keep the gloves until he returned. Pat Bissell suggested he leave them along the fence and she’d make sure they’d be there for him when he returned.
The shoreline along the park including the splendid new seawall appeared sturdy and undamaged by Irene. Right beyond it, along the margin of the sea grassm these skittering crustaceans were intent on doing a clean-up of their own.