Photos by Patrick Shea On Earth Day, volunteers and residents gathered trash, enjoyed live music, and shared a meal in Casita Park, a subdivision of the Baca Grande Property Owners Association.

SAGUACHE COUNTY — Residents and town officials across Saguache County pitched in for Earth Day spring cleaning on April 22. The cleaning fever hit households and neighborhoods too with people hauling trash and debris to landfills.

Center Police Department Officer Kendra Adolph gathered early in Center Community Park along with town board members and other residents. In Moffat, crews gathered around noon. In the Baca Grande Property Owners Association, residents dropped loads at two sites across the five subdivisions.

Providing a festive ending to Baca Grande cleanup efforts, the Friends of Casita Park hosted a post-scrubbing celebration with food and live music. The newly formed nonprofit had already orchestrated cleanup days in the past and is currently raising funds to plant new trees. Nick Nevares from Mountainside Realty sponsored the picnic. Residents sampled from tables full of food and two smoking grills, as well as a performance by a band called The Audience.

More than 30 volunteers helped gather at least 70 loads of trash across the Baca Grande subdivisions. They filled four industrial dumpsters from Conley Waste Management, and Nevares had help picking up trash along two highway miles between Casita Park and Crestone.

Helping Officer Adolph in Center, members of the fire department and town board met at Center Community Park along with residents and volunteers from Alamosa. They picked the park clean and tidied up the streets around downtown. Moffat officials left the town park spotless too.