On a beautiful day, let's make Lebanon beautiful!

It’s go time, Lebanon. Time to rise and shine and clean up the joint!

After weeks of preparation Lebanon Cleanup Day is on for today.

The bags and gloves will be waiting at Town Offices on Upper Guinea Road beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Families, Boy Scouts and Girl Scout, Cub Scouts, all groups are welcome to participate.

We only ask that you avoid trying to clean up Route 202 due to safety concerns for our residents, especially youngsters.

You’d be surprised how much fun it is to pick up roadside debris.

You get to see which fast foods are most popular, not to mention which beer and soda.

Last month I picked up a 64-oz. container of Tide. What were they doing with that in their car? I tell ya, it’s a laugh a minute.

One note of caution, however; DO NOT try to pick up debris too hurriedly. It can be dangerous. More than once, I realized at the last moment that a beer bottle was broken.

Also, parents and group leaders: Please be sure to advise any children that come upon a syringe lying on the road shoulder to let you pick it up, then do so gingerly using gloves.

Believe me, this will be a very rewarding task for you, your children and your group, but we don’t want anyone to get hurt.

The sun may be intense in the late morning hours, so don’t forget sunblock. Also, the gnats or “noseeums,” were out yesterday so you might want to consider bug spray.

Most of all, don’t forget the wonderful service you’re doing for your town and your neighborhood.

Thank you for that.

And to thank you the Town of Lebanon and The Lebanon Voice, co-sponsors of the event, will be throwing a barbecue beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Town Offices on Upper Guinea Road, which we could not have done without the generosity of area businesses.

We want to thank the following contributors:Salmon Falls Café, Batchelder Sales, Papa Gino’s of Rochester, Triple J Feeds, Stokewood’s Diner, Welch’s Hardware, M&M Auto Sales and Towing, Hannaford’s of North Main Street, Rochester; and Market Basket of Rochester.

Also Lebanon Rescue will be providing the grill, and Gilpatrick Property Services will be providing manpower.

In addition Road Commissioner Larry Torno, his road crews as well as the Lebanon Transfer Station crew will all be donating time.

- HT