Look good, feel good.

It’s a simple concept, but one that is so beneficial in battling the daily grind.

It can and does go beyond personal appearance.

A community that looks good, feels good — for visitors and residents.

My wife and I go on routine walks with our 4- and 6-year-old children up and down our street and throughout our neighborhood.

What has always stood out to us is how everyone on our street maintains their yards, from those who own the expensive houses with the pools and custom backyards to the renters like us in the smaller-scale homes.

Seeing the hard work our neighbors put in creates a sense of responsibility with my wife and I to make sure there is no loose trash in our yard, the grass never gets overgrown and our empty trash cans don’t stay overturned across the street.

Our neighbors make sure their yards look nice, so we do the same, and the whole effort makes us feel good.

It was a concept put into action recently by many in St. John.

Following a terrific showing in front of judges, the St. John the Baptist Parish towns of Wallace, Garyville and Reserve advanced in the Cleanest City Contest, which is sponsored by the Louisiana Garden Club Federation.

State judging continues April 15, when judges will again tour the selected areas of St. John for cleanliness and beautification.

Parish officials announced this week St. John is participating for the first time with a goal of increasing civic pride and improving our region’s visual appeal.

“We want to commend St. John on a successful first-time participation in the CCC and for performing admirably,” said Joe Baucum, LGCF District II CCC Chairman. “From our perspective, we certainly enjoyed visiting your parish and were very impressed with the growth and progress being accomplished.”

That’s a heck of a feather in the cap for those men and women who do their parts (and those of some of their neighbors, as well) in keeping our parish clean.

Officials said to promote the importance of cleanliness throughout the year, the parish hosts a Clean Sweep in the spring and fall, sponsored each time by the Keep St. John Beautiful Committee.

The Spring Clean Sweep comes at the perfect time, next weekend on April 11.

In a recent “letter to the editor” for L’OBSERVATEUR readers, Keep St. John Beautiful Committee Co-Chair Dana Milioto wrote, unfortunately, spring is the beginning of the worst season for litter in area neighborhoods, roadways and waterways.

She said keeping St. John litter-free is important to our quality of life and remains the responsibility of children and adults, because cleaner neighborhoods are healthier neighborhoods for the entire community.

“Maintaining a litter-free environment is a measure of our community’s pride, persistence and perseverance following one of the largest disasters in the parish’s history,” she said. “Please make a commitment to keeping our parish litter-free by pitching in every day and working with us to end America’s litter problem.”

Just like the community members of Wallace, Garyville and Reserve, all of us in St. John have the chance to put our best foot forward next weekend as Keep St. John Beautiful gets going for a 15th consecutive year working to keep our community beautiful.

Everyone is asked to participate by joining together from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. April 11 at Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park on Louisiana 51 in LaPlace. Supplies such as trash bags, safety vests, trash pickers, gloves and more will be distributed at 8:30 a.m. at the park.

Participants are asked to register for this event online. To get involved, call Milioto at 985-652-9569 or log on at sjbparish.com.

Stephen Hemelt is general manager and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.