LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / April 11, 2000

ST. ROSE – Pat Elfer has a thorn in her side – it’s those people who persistin tossing trash along the roadside, especially along St. Rose Avenue.Unlike most people, however, it’s driven her to do something about it.

Since 1997, Elfer has spearheaded clean-up drives and trash bashes with the intention of cleaning up St. Charles Parish. Last weekend, Elfer and acrew of 14 volunteers swept clean St. Rose Avenue, end to end, and fromthe road into the marsh as far as one could see.

Yet, some people still don’t get the message.

“We were out here working and somebody went through and threw out a chicken box,” she said, and added, “It was still warm!” The results of the cleanup were three dump-truckloads of roadside trash, including one car door, two auto gasoline tanks and barbed wire.

This was the first time since October 1997 that St. Rose Avenue got thisclean-up treatment. Elfer has also sponsored three Tire Bashes for St.Charles Parish residents for the collection and recycling of old tires.

The clean-up volunteers also enjoyed protection by Sheriff Greg Champagne and the St. Charles Sheriff’s Department, who provideddeputies for the volunteers’ protection.

“They stayed right with us,” Elfer said. “We’d move and they’d move.”The deputies also were able to ticket three motorists, including two for speeding.

In addition, 18 inmates were provided to assist in the heavy lifting of trash and roadside debris, Elfer said.

Parish Council member April Black, who represents the St. Rose area, alsocame out on Saturday to assist in the roadside clean-up. “I thought we dida good job. I was pleased to see other constituents participating.”Elfer also reminded that St. Charles Parish students have until May 19 toget their entries in for the state Department of Environmental Quality’s anti-littering calendar.

The 2000 calendar included eight St. Charles Parish students’ artwork, andthere were 1,228 local entries. The contest is open to first- througheighth-graders.

Entries must be done with crayon, markers, pens, color pencils on an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper. On the back of each entry must be the artist’s name, their school, grade and town.

Entry information is available both at the schools and at the public libraries. Entries will be sent to DEQ’s Litter Reduction and Public ActionSection for judging.

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