Holbrook Community Cleans Up

Driving through the Holbrook area on May 1 found dozens of people, young and old, wearing orange vests and cleaning up the community. They were participating in the annual Holbrook Community Clean-Up; an effort to tidy up the area and become more "eco-friendly".

Meeting outside the Seneca Middle School on Main Street, this hardy band of volunteers received their vests and equipment before they set out. Among those greeting the people was Holbrook Chamber of Commerce President Rick Ammirati who was pleased by the large turn-out. 

"Holbrook wants to go green," he said. " 'Go Green and Keep the Community Clean' is actually our preeminent theme for the Fair we'll be having this year at the Seneca Middle School in August. We have a huge Fair with fireworks annually which between five and seven thousand people attend over a four-day period.  What we're gonna be promoting this year is our idea to Go Green and Keep Holbrook Clean." 

Ammirati claims that his obsession with cleanliness can be credited to his mother. 

"She kept after me ever since I was 5-years old to clean up garbage." 

This year's Community Clean-Up was heavily advertised with signs throughout the area and the local LED signs on various businesses promoted the event.  Even the LED sign at the Holbrook Firehouse touted the Clean-Up.

The Presiding Officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, William Lindsay, was also on hand for the event. 

"This is sort of a spring cleaning," he said. "It's a very good thing.  If people feel good about themselves, they feel good about the community.  We do this heavily in the spring and we try to do a fall clean-up as well.  We work with the Town of Islip and their Keep Islip Clean program gives us all the supplies."  

He quickly noted that the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce is his partner in this event as well as with the on-going beatification of the Town. 

"They're even mowing the grass on the medians along Patchogue-Holbrook Road," he cited. "The County doesn't cut the grass as much as my way of thinking would like.  The County may cut it two or three times a year and it drives me crazy when the grass is long!"  The Chamber of Commerce steps in to keep things neat and trim.

Chatting with some of the workers along Patchogue-Holbrook Road found them to range from parents, to housewives to teenagers who were fed up with the untidy habits of other community residents.  Most impressive were three teenaged girls who had signed up for this because they wanted to "help the environment." 

Lauren Hennely seemed to represent the two girls with her when she said the environment was "dirty-looking and gross to look at. Why are people throwing things on the ground?" 

In a comment that would make Rick Ammiriti's mother proud, Lauren urged others to "Pick up your trash because people have to live on this earth."