The Acadia Students’ Union and the Wolfville Good Neighbours Association are excited to announce that a Wolfville town clean up event has been planned for Homecoming weekend. A student-town initiative, the event will take place on Sunday, October 17th at 3:30pm. Volunteers will meet at Wolfville Clock Park on Main Street to begin the clean up, and collected cans and bottles will be recycled at the Valley Recycling Enviro Depot, with proceeds going to the Valley Cardiac Rehab Society.
Sadie McAlear, the Acadia Student Union Community Relations representative, hopes to see as many Acadia students as possible out on the 17th helping at the cleanup: “As an ASU we are really excited to be collaborating and working with local residents of Wolfville to clean up the town. We want everyone to have a fun and safe Homecoming, but we also need to hold each other accountable for any mess made over the weekend’s festivities.”
Wolfville resident and Good Neighbours Association member Noel McQueen hopes that this inaugural event will become an official annual one on the Homecoming calendar. “We want to build positive relationships between residents and Acadia’s student body by working together to clean up the garbage left in our neighbourhoods every year by Homecoming partiers,” she says. She also adds that donations to the Valley Cardiac Rehab Society will directly benefit both the town of Wolfville and the students: “The money collected from refunding retrieved cans and bottles will be donated to a charity that benefits both students and residents, as the Valley Cardiac Rehab Society hires Acadia students to run heart fitness programs that in turn benefit residents.”
Homecoming is a traditional celebratory event where alumni are welcomed back to the school. Students, both current and former, are invited to celebrate their school, and for alumni, to commemorate their own time as a student. Aside from the positivity and celebration of the school in the tradition of Homecoming, there is also the aftermath of such an event to consider. Whilst Homecoming acknowledges school spirit and encourages students to celebrate their school, it has also, in years past, led to an excess amount of trash littering the streets in its trail.
This is why a student-town cleanup is such an important initiative following an event like Homecoming. Wolfville is a community to be proud of, as is Acadia itself, and as students and residents of the town, it is vital to work together to keep Wolfville a place to be proud of. Aside from keeping the community clean, a cleanup event is also a great chance to get outside, get to know your neighbours, and enjoy a nice walk!
