By Ed Byrne, The Brillion News, April 9, 2020
TOWN OF RANTOUL – This is the time of year that people’s thoughts turn to spring cleaning. But when Bonnie Schneider thinks of spring cleaning, she thinks big. She decided to clean up Calumet County – or at least a few roads in the county. “I always do County Trunk E where our business is – Phil’s Pumping – and that road is always dirty,” she said. “It actually felt kind of good cleaning it all up, and then I went on a different road and just kept going.”
It started a couple of weeks back, and she picked up so much litter that she decided to continue the clean sweep – with help from her friends Beverly Schmitz, Jeff Pagel and Alysa Pagel, who helped her take on Irish Road’s trash. She said it’s been her exercise for a couple of hours each morning. “I can’t believe how much garbage there is,” she said.
She started posting photos of the garbage on Facebook and then issued a challenge to others: “So my challenge to you today is to get out there and clean the streets of all the litter. Post a picture of what road or street you did and all the litter you accumulated. People will be amazed at all the garbage – 20 trash bags of garbage in two hours. We now have the time to make a difference in our communities. So spread the word and get to work. A busy mind and busy hands keep stress low, and that is very important right now.”
Schneider said it’s a great way to feel good about where you live, and she found plenty of trash in the roadside ditches, especially on Irish Road. “I did four miles on County E, from County Y to State 57,” she said. Then she did five miles on Irish Road, with the help of a friend. They each took a side of the road and kept one another company while practicing social distancing.
“When you do good, you feel good,” Schneider said in her challenge. “So get out there and get your kids busy. Life is good, and God is good, so let’s do our part. Have
a great day and enjoy your family time.” Schneider said she was surprised by the positive responses she got from issuing the challenge. So if you see folks cleaning up the ditch, thank Schneider for encouraging them in their spring cleaning. “Once the snow melted, it was a mess. Irish Road was terrible,” she said. “There’s plenty more [trash] out there for everyone.”