Shippensburg borough had its 19th annual Ship Shape Day on April 25, starting at 8:30 a.m. Ship Shape Day is a spring cleaning day that many SU students, Shippensburg Senior High School students and community members participated in.
Participants met at the Shippensburg Firefighters Activities Center, where groups were given a paper that gives a quadrant, or area to clean up, and instructions for the job.
The event is planned a few months in advance, and included instructions for clean up that guided people to wear vests and gloves for safety.
It also asked people to stay off public property, place full bags at street intersections and not to block pedestrian traffic.
Participants were able to return to the activity center for lunch and certificates were awarded after tasks were completed.
Various organizations participated, including the SU Farm Club, football team, tennis team and members of the Latter Day Saints, said James D’Amico, the associate director of the Center of Engagement, Service Learning at SU.
The Middle Spring stream, local Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and roadsides throughout the area were places that volunteers cleaned up. Approximately 250 volunteers participated in Ship Shape Day.
The Shippensburg Garden Club provided the free lunch for the event, said Carolyn Callaghan, an associate dean at SU who has been a part of the Ship Shape Day committee for six years.
Local companies donated food for the participants, such as Subway, Callaghan said.
A contest was held throughout the event, where the most unique item found would be captured in a photo during the cleanup and sent to #shipshapeday15 on Twitter and Facebook, D’Amico said.
Items from old couches and animal bones were sent into the Twitter and Facebook pages. A gift certificate to Subway sponsored by Parks Garbage Service, Inc., was given to the winner.
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