Friend of the Month: Jan 2001

Volunteers Needed for Saturday, February 9

Plus

Meet Bob Miller, Friend of the Month

This is Bob Miller on Saturday morning, December 8, 2001. You might have seen Bob along the northern reaches of Scottsdale Road picking up roadside litter. You can count on seeing him again on Saturday, February 9.

Bob isn’t one of Joe Arpio’s chain gang and he isn’t a contractor hired by the City of Scottsdale . Bob is one of the Scottsdale residents who donates their time and energy as a Friends of the Scenic Drive volunteer. Year-after-year, cleanup-after-cleanup, Bob has helped Friends of the Scenic Drive and his community.

Bob does more than participate in Friends’ cleanup projects. He’s active in the Bent Tree Homeowners Association, which is actively planning its own re-vegetation projects. And, every two weeks Bob gets out and picks up litter along Scottsdale Road near his own neighborhood.

Bob says, “We moved here because it’s a special place. I try to do as much as I can to keep it that way.“ Bob also says that participating in the pickup efforts is “actually enjoyable” and he felt a real sense of satisfaction viewing a 6 ½ miles-long, litter-free scenic corridor after Friends had completed it pickup effort.

Bob is standing next to a bag of litter that he has just finished filling with roadside litter. He's holding photograph of a baby picture and woman’s id card that he had just picked up along with cigarette butts, construction materials, plastic bags and other litter. What’s the most unusual piece of litter Bob has found? “A wallet with $50, which I turned in to the police,” Bob responded.

Want to help on Saturday, February 9, 2002?

Join your neighbors! Friends of the Scenic Drive conducts its two-hour cleanups on Saturday mornings every 6 weeks. Volunteers - families, students, retirees and working folks - are assigned sections of the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive ( Scottsdale Road from Happy Valley Road to Carefree Highway ). If there are enough volunteers, Friends also does sections of Carefree Highway , Dynamite, Lone Mountain and Jomax Roads.

Scottsdale provide free trash bags, pickup sticks, safety vests. Complimentary coffee, water and donuts are provided at the two sign-in locations manned by Friends’ volunteers. Typically, volunteers work for two hours, until 10 am . The result is litter-free roadside for residents and visitors to enjoy.

Friends next cleanup project will be on Saturday, February 9, 2002 at 8 am . You are invited to pitch in and pick up. For directions to sign-in locations and information about the litter pickup effort email us. You might also look for Bob Miller along Scottsdale Road . The odds are good that you will find him helping to keep your community “special.”