Members of the Berlin Parks Commission have agreed to adjust the date of Berlin Cleanup Day in 2025 in an effort to boost participation.
Parks Commission discusses future of several events
Berlin Cleanup Day courtesy file photo
By Charlene Sharpe, Associate Editor
The Berlin Parks Commission will adjust the date of Berlin Cleanup Day in 2025 in an effort to boost participation.
After seeing a drop in volunteers on April 20 for this year’s Berlin Cleanup Day, the commission agreed last week to push the event a week earlier next spring. Commission members are hopeful the earlier date will lead to less conflicts with other events and will encourage more participation.
“I think that makes sense,” commission member Patricia Dufendach said. “Earlier is better.”
In a recap of spring events, the commission last week discussed the April 20 cleanup. While in years past volunteers have cleaned up and added plantings to multiple parks, this year there weren’t enough volunteers to tackle all the potential projects.
“The feedback we received throughout town was that volunteer numbers were down significantly this year,” Kate Daub, the town’s special projects administrator, said. “We’re inclined to believe the reason for that is the later we go into the spring season the more events are going on.”
Events that occurred the same day as this year’s cleanup included Berlin Record Store Day and the Ocean Pines Expo. Daub said that while there weren’t a ton of volunteers, there was a good group at Stephen Decatur Park that focused on cleaning up the garden at the park’s entrance.
“That was all we were able to tackle this year,” Daub said. “In years past we’ve done cleanup throughout the park.”
She said she’d talked to other town staff and they supported moving the event next year a week earlier. It would be April 12 in 2025. Take Pride in Berlin Week would run from April 6-12 with the cleanup on the 12th.
Daub told the commission another calendar change she was proposing for next year included the elimination of the spring Just Walk event held in cooperation with the Worcester County Health Department. She said this spring’s walking event had been canceled because it was the same day as the Maryland’s Coast Bike Festival and the Berlin Jazz and Blues, Wine and Brews event.
“We feared we would not have had a turnout worth moving forward with the event,” Daub said.
She added that the health department recommended putting the town’s focus on the fall Glow Walk event instead, as that was increasingly well attended. The commission agreed to both proposed changes for 2025.