Spring Planting and Cleanup in Maplewood Village

There was an inordinate amount of people wearing gardening gloves in Maplewood Village on Saturday morning. That's because it was Maplewood Village Alliance's annual Spring Planting and Cleanup Day. 

MVA Manager Julie Doran organized the event, which focused on picking up trash and planting flowers all around town. The planting and cleanup day is an "ongoing effort to beautify the town without spending tax dollars," said Doran, as she planted yellow pansies. She was promptly interrupted by her daughter who proclaimed she must interchange yellow and purple. 

Little volunteers from Girl Scouts troops 20966 and 20701 and from Brownie Troop 20898 were there to help—along with a few grown-ups. The event was sponsored by Valley National Bank, which gave out water and doughnut holes as an incentive for the kiddies—not that they needed any. "I felt good because we were helping nature," said Lizzy De Luca. 

Over a pot of pansies on Highland Avenue, the discussion took a turn towards found garbage:  "I found a hairnet with yellow hair in it. It was disgusting," said Olive Frettshoward. "I found cigarette butts. That was the most disgusting thing," announced the aforementioned De Luca. Sadie Tuohy didn't like the gum she found, but she and the rest of the girls maintained that the day was a fun one.