Mayor William Schneider thanked the Panama Methodist Church for organizing the day, saying it looked like it was decently successful. He also thanked Casella Waste for donating the dumpster for the day.

“Between the Methodist Church and community members and Casellas it was a great community cooperation day,” Schneider said.

It was noted that the dumpster provided by Casella’s was at least three-quarters full with “bags and bags of stuff.” Schneider also thanked Panama Auto for their help during the day as they took in and recycled the small amount of tires that were found, without charge.

“It was really nice to see, like I said, some of our business partners working with us and helping us out between Casellas and Panama Auto,” Schneider said. “It was a good day. It was good weather, so I’m glad it worked out.”

The village of Panama discussed the success of the recent village clean up day. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

Scheduling the clean up day can often be difficult with the weather, Schneider added, but this year it worked out well. The village also received a note from George Anderson, who helped organize and run the event, which also asked for ideas for next year to get more village residents to participate. Schneider said possibly next year they would look to contact the school a little bit earlier with a list of community service opportunities that includes the clean up day to help get kids more involved.

It was noted that the community partnership for the clean up day will continue as it benefits everyone, and that it has been done every year for the last few years, though once fall comes a lot of garbage has returned.

“But, we’re lucky to have community participants that understand the civic responsibility and volunteer their time to do stuff like that,” Schneider said.