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Auburn schedules citywide Clean Sweep volunteer day April 26 with planting projects and breakfast
Summary
City volunteers will converge at parks across Auburn on Saturday, April 26 for a city-organized Clean Sweep: a 9 a.m.–noon series of planting and cleanup projects preceded by a complimentary breakfast at the community center, organizers said on a local podcast. More than 500 volunteers had signed up at the time of the recording.
Amanda Valdez, a guest on the podcast, said Auburn’s annual Clean Sweep will start with a complimentary breakfast and welcome, then move to planting and cleanup projects across the city on Saturday, April 26.
The event “officially commence[s] from 9 to noon all around the city,” Valdez said on the show, adding that volunteers will work on planting and cleanup at Bicentennial, Sunset, Game Farm Wilderness Park, Veterans Memorial Park and other sites. The hosts said the last day to officially register was “the ’23rd” on the recording; they also noted people can still show up the day of.
Why it matters: Clean Sweep is the city’s largest single-day parks volunteer effort of the year and ties to Arbor Day activities and urban-forest stewardship. Organizers said the Auburn Garden Club provides design and plant selection for the planting sites, and the day includes both plantings and mechanical cleanups such as picking up arborvitae debris.
Details and partners: Valdez told listeners a complimentary breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Auburn community center, with partners including the Kiwanis and Longhorn. The mayor and “newly appointed director, Julie Krueger,” were scheduled to give brief remarks and the group planned a large photo and drone coverage. Projects run from 9 a.m. to noon and will include planting at downtown planters, the Postmark Center for the Arts area, and larger flower-bed plantings at Veterans Memorial Park; other projects listed were Mountain View Cemetery, Cedar Lane, Lehi, Lakeland Hills Park (a riverbed extension), Brannon, Game Farm, Sunset and Brandon.
Volunteers and logistics: Valdez said volunteers do not need to be experienced gardeners to participate and that the Auburn Garden Club volunteers typically lead planting crews and relay planting layouts. She asked volunteers to sign waivers; the hosts said the city counts every signature on waivers to produce an official volunteer tally. “I should also note that we have over 500 volunteers at the moment,” Valdez said on the recording.
Other items: The show noted a Mandos Disc Golf group would clean up the disc-golf course near the new bridge at Game Farm Wilderness Park and that some parks projects involve hauling away trimmed arborvitae. Valdez also mentioned a volunteer staff meeting for the Auburn farmers market immediately after Clean Sweep: 1 p.m. at Let’s Go Park, to review the new market layout and coordinate volunteers.
What organizers asked of volunteers: Hosts and Valdez said people can sign up online to be assigned to a park but may also show up the morning of the event. They encouraged volunteers to bring gloves, water and appropriate footwear; the transcript did not specify whether tools would be provided at every site.
Looking ahead: The program continues a multi-year partnership with the Auburn Garden Club and other community groups to maintain planting beds and expand park improvements incrementally, Valdez said.
