Brenda Tozier on Kelly StreetIn a partnership between the Southwest NM’s Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), Freeport McMoRan, the Silver City Fire Department and Silver City MainStreet, the Big Ditch Park and Bullard and Broadway Streets were cleaned up this past Saturday. More than twenty volunteers headed out to pick up trash, pull weeds and generally clean up these areas.

Tyler Johnson, an engineer with Freeport McMoRan reached out to Silver City MainStreet and offered to help do cleanups downtown.

Johnson had done similar volunteer work with Keep Las Cruces Beautiful while attending NM State University and wanted to continue that volunteer service in Silver City. Kylle Marshall, the Silver City Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention, is a childhood friend of Johnson and offered to help with the cleanup and bring fire fighters and an ice chest of cold water to share along with a first aid station.

The day started at the Visitor Center with socially distanced stretching exercises, and donuts and coffee provided by Silver City MainStreet. Johnson went over a map with the areas to clean up. Then crews went out in groups of 1 to 4 to clean up their assigned areas. The crews lost count of how many bags of trash were picked up with between 50 and 60 bags collected. After the bags were collected, Freeport McMoRan donated a pizza lunch for all the hard working volunteers. This type of clean up helps the economic vitality of downtown. When an area is clean, it is more welcoming to shop and walk around it. Brenda Tozier, Silver City MainStreet Administrative Assistant pulled all the weeds along Kelly Street and the Big Ditch.
Tozier had just pulled the weeds in front of the selfie wall, and as soon as she did, people
came to take a selfie. This is exactly why these types of clean up are important.

Additionally, with some businesses on limited hours or closed, keeping downtown clean makes it more vibrant and ready for the covid recovery.

“We were thrilled to form this collaboration between SME, Freeport McMoRan and the Silver City Fire Department, states Patrick Hoskins, board president of Silver City MainStreet. Both Johnson and Marshall ensured that covid safe practices were followed to keep the volunteers safe. We hope to have more successful collaborations in the future and are planning to work together to put up the downtown holiday decorations.”

The mission of Silver City MainStreet is "To encourage a vibrant, historic downtown Silver City which is recognized as the heart of our diverse community." Please visit our website, www.silvercitymainstreet.com to learn more.

Pictured are Brenda Tozier on Kelly St., Tyler Johnson mapping out clean up, and Kylle
Marshall with clean up efforts.