KSB Great Trash Race set for June 4

On June 4, Keep Sidney Beautiful will hold its annual Great Trash Race, a cleanup effort that tasks teams with collecting as much as they can throughout the community.

"It's a good way for people to give back to their community," Beth Arellano, director of Keep Sidney Beautiful, said.

Keep Sidney Beautiful has been an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful since the early 2000's, and has hosted the Great Trash Race in town since that time.

Prior to the annual event, the organization conducts a litter index of the entire town, utilizing a 1-to-10 scoring system based on a visual assessment of the community's overall appearance. Factors such as litter, illegal signs, graffiti, abandoned or junk vehicles, and outside storage are taken into consideration in the index.

Using the index results, Arellano said the Great Trash Race focuses on the areas that score the lowest.

"Unfortunately, it's the I-80 exchange that gets the worst with trash and debris," she said. "Nothing against the merchants or restaurants out there, but there are areas that get hit heavily with trash."

In the event, teams of up to 30 individuals donate a couple of hours of their time to clean up the Sidney area. Gift certificates provided by the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce are awarded to the top three teams collecting the most trash during the cleanup.

Arellano said there is also a prize for the person bringing in the strangest find in the cleanup.

"One year, somebody found a deer leg," she said. "Another year, there was a check to somebody."

Last year, more than 200 bags of trash were collected during the Great Trash Race by ten participating teams.

Arellano said Keep Sidney Beautiful is considering hold a second Great Trash Race in 2016 during the fall.

"This would be the first year that we do it twice," she said.

The Great Trash Race will be held Saturday, June 4, from 9 to 11 a.m. Teams will meet at Hickory Street Square in downtown Sidney before splitting up around the town to collect trash. Lunch will also be provided following the cleanup.

Teams must be signed up by Friday, May 27, to participate in the event to receive a free t-shirt.

For more information or to register, call (308) 254-5851.