Dear Editor

I want to say a big thank-you to our cleanup crew at the Flagstaff Road cleanup event. We did a great job! But I was also very saddened to learn that there are still hundreds of tires up on the Flagstaff Road.We ladies picked up the trash by the creek, lots of glass, cans and plastic bottles. The men picked up the tires, over a hundred and still there are many more. We need a recycling center or factory to melt this stuff to make new things. This is just craziness. Doesn't anyone care about the environment? Or the safety of children or people who hike on the Flagstaff Road or the Switchback?And a word to the fishing folks: Clean up after yourselves. I picked up several fishing lines and a couple still had hooks on them. If someone dumped trash in front of your house, how would you feel?Well, to all those who dumped trash on Flagstaff and Mauch Chunk park, Switchback trail this is all of our home, not just for animals, birds and fish, but us, too!I'm proud of our small crew. We did a great job but there is still more to do. Maybe a scouting troop can continue the cleanup for a project. Wouldn't it be nice to see a sitting area on that bald site by the road for bikers and hikers to have a rest with a bench or two or a picnic table.Let's keep America clean!Thank YouBetsy MurphyJim Thorpe