A lot of elbow grease was used in San Juan Bautista on Saturday, Oct. 22 for Make a Difference Day.
Volunteers wearing orange vests and armed with gardening and landscaping tools, prepared the soil for planting seeds, tore out dead tree roots, painted, cleaned curbs and much more.
Forty-three people signed up for the event at the San Juan Bautista Library, through the Library Auxiliary.
Suzanne Kerns, president of the auxiliary, along with a few other dedicated book lovers, made coffee and brought treats for the volunteers before they proceeded to the spot where they would spend a few hours to beautify the town.
A barbecue was cooked for the volunteers, as a thank-you for their contribution.
Some of the hard-working volunteers were seen at the library, including Lisa Jensema, who works for the Recology recycling company and put her time in at the library’s side yard. She pointed out that Recology donated the debris boxes, yard waste cans, and other necessary supplies for the day's work.
Eric Gredassoff used muscles and a pick axe to get a dead tree root out of the library yard. “I just want to help the community before I move,” he said of his impending relocation to Manhattan, Kansas in a few days.
Anzar High School students Jake Jenfen and Ethan Gonzalez worked in the library yard to earn four of the 80 community service hour credits they needed.
Arlene Motz, who lives across the street from the Abbe baseball park, helped by painting the stands. “It’s nice for the kids to keep up the park, and it’s also good to keep the city looking cared for, for the visitors to see,” she said.
Don Boys, a San Juan Rotary member, was also making a difference in Abbe Park, working there with a few of the Rotary Interact Club high school students.
Valerie and Ken Halla were among the crew at the end of Washington Street. After the first crew cleaned up the dog-walking area, and the dog deposits left on the ground, the Hallas then turned over the earth and planted native California Poppy seeds.
“Poppy seeds will grow in awful soil, and will look good here,” Valerie said.
National Make a Difference Day began in 1999 and is sponsored by USA Weekend and the Points of Light organization, for the celebration of neighbors joining together to beautify the community.
