This Saturday, thanks to the leadership of Kevin Hummons, one Petworth alley is clean and many neighbors got to experience the true meaning of community. At 10:45 am about 14 Petworth residents got together to clean up an alley between 4th St. and Illinois Ave. NW. Now, this was not a casual pick up a can and call it a day clean up. This was a mud in your face, grit in your teeth clean up of all clean ups. There was raking, bagging, shoveling, clipping, pruning and even a little laughter. Mind you, this was Saturday, which was about 90+ degrees in the shade. It was so hot, my wallet actually melted in my jeans. Melted. Ok, you may ask why was I wearing jeans in 90+ degree weather? Well, my legs are not very flattering in shorts but that is beside the point.
The beautiful thing was not that this alley got clean. Don’t get me wrong that was a nice outcome but the beauty was watching neighbors come together. This group was truly representative of Petworth. There were old timers, new comers, white, black, men, women, and even a teenager. I know I hadn’t met many of these neighbors before so it was such a pleasure to bond with them while working together towards cleaning up our community. It was hot and it was dirty but I had a smile on my face the whole rest of the day. So again, a big thank you to Kevin and all the neighbors who participated.
