Spring is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to lend Mother Nature a hand as she prepares her annual spring spectacular.
One of the best ways to do that is by helping spruce up Highlands and the highways that lead people our way.
The Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC invites everyone to join in its annual Plateau Pickup Day, a longstanding community tradition focused on clearing litter from the routes into town and a handful of key spots around Highlands.
This year’s Plateau Pickup is set for Saturday, April 18. Groups, families, and individuals will gather at 8:30 A.M. at Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park on Pine Street to check in and receive cleanup assignments along major corridors including US 64, NC 28, NC 106, and select areas of downtown.
Volunteers will have everything they need – safety vests, gloves, pickup tools, garbage bags, and even a light breakfast to start the morning. Once the work is done, everyone is invited back to the park at noon for a boxed lunch and a thank you t-shirt.
“Plateau Pickup is one of those days that brings out the very best in Highlands,” said Johanna Fein, executive director of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC. “This year, we’re proud to be part of the Greatest American Cleanup, working together to make our community cleaner, greener, and more beautiful as we look ahead to America’s 250th celebration.”
The tradition began more than 30 years ago, when members of the Mirror Lake Homeowners Association organized a Gorge Road cleanup day. They returned each spring, and word spread—soon, more and more neighbors joined in. Eventually, the event grew so successful that the association passed the reins to the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC, which has carried the tradition forward with the same spirit of community pride.
Editor’s Note: This event becomes even more fun when you consider it an exotic scavenger hunt. When my son Alex was in the first grade, he won an award from the Chamber of Commerce for Most Unusual Collection – A 1985 Honda RBC Inlet Manifold, a set of swimming goggles, a can of Olympia Beer (pretty exotic for these parts) and two pairs of women’s underpants. Even more important for Alex, he got to ride in the back of a pickup truck with Buck Trott, known to every kid at Highlands School as Santa Claus.
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