ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Sandra Lewis, the membership manager at the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, was one of the people helping clean Flax Pond and Flax Pond Park.
By THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — City workers and local business employees joined forces this week to clean up Flax Pond playground and earned praise from parents who frequent the park.
“I was very pleased to see it,” said Elizabeth Ortiz. “At this time of year, the park is pretty clean but as the year goes on, not so much.”
Ortiz, of Lynn, brings her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter to the playground off Chestnut Street often in good weather. She watched appreciatively as a dozen city Department of Public Works employees and Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce volunteers collected trash and swept debris on Tuesday.
Leslie Gould, Chamber president, said a conversation with DPW associate commissioner Lisa Nerich inspired the campaign. Community Credit Union, Haven Project and Newhall Real Estate employees tugged on gloves and grabbed rakes and plastic bags to pick up trash around the playground and along the pond’s shoreline.
“I pulled out a sock and a lot of bottle caps,” Gould said. “We covered a lot of ground.”
Ortiz praised city workers for repairing playground equipment and depositing fresh mulch around landscaped areas by the pond. She said park users need to do their share to keep Flax and other playgrounds clean.
“It should be our job too,” she said
Trash barrels have been placed arranged around the playground, tennis court and the lawn next to the pond. The park underwent improvements in 2011 when the Flax “splash pad” equipped with kid-friendly fountains and new playground equipment, were added.
Chamber members hope to organize future park cleanups, including one slated for July. Chamber events manager Sandra Lewis said interest in keeping Flax and other parks clean extends beyond chamber members.
“Every time I go there my kids say, ‘We should bring bags and clean up,’” Lewis said.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com