Spring Cleaning: Volunteers Have Fun During May Day

After April showers earlier in the week, May flowers were in full bloom and ready for pruning on Madison's annual May Day.

The 13th annual May Day took place Saturday under blue skies with a temperature in the 80s by late morning. With fine weather and a large volunteer turnout, Mara Johnson, May Day chairperson, said May Day 2010 is no exception to the trend of surpassing the previous year's event.  

"This is the best year we've had so far," said Johnson. "We have over 900 volunteers this year and that's amazing. People just love the event they look forward to it every year."

The 900 volunteers, many donning T-shirts designed by Central Avenue Elementary School student Julia Grant, set off to designated areas around town to mulch trees, rake dead leaves and pull weeds from the dozens of flower beds around the borough.

Although many of the volunteers were residents of the town, various Madison businesses were also present to show their support for May Day.

"We all benefit from a beautiful community and as realtors we like to showcase a great town," said Bob Chapman, a realtor with Weichert in Madison.

Bob Rocco, a loan officer with Weichert and a member of Chapman's May Day cleaning team, agreed with Chapman.

"We need to give back to our community," said Rocco. "I was born and raised here in town and I get a lot of business in town and it's good to give back to the town that you live and work in."

The event, sponsored by the Downtown Development Commission, coincided with the town's Arbor Day celebration and featured an Arbor Day Address, delivered by Dr. Richard Noonan, superintendent of Madison Public Schools, and a short program featuring students from the Torey J. Sabatini, King's Road, Central Avenue and St. Vincent Martyr Schools. The event included a performance by Torey J. Sabatini's School String Ensemble, a reading of original poetry from the King's Road students, choral music from Central Avenue and a May pole dance by the first graders of St. Vincent Martyr School.

In addition to providing entertainment, many kids around the borough, including Girl Scout Troop 1113 and Boy Scout Troop 7, teamed up with parents and friends to help with the town's beautification process.

Chelsea Catlin, 11, said this is her second year volunteering with her parents and she enjoys making the town a beautiful place to live.

"I like that we get to clean up the town and that when you drive by you get to see how good it all looks," she said.

For photos posted by the Kiwanis Club, who helped clean up Cole Park as part of May Day, click here.

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