Letter to the editor

This is not a challenge. This is not condescending in anyway. This is a call to all of us that live within the city limits of Ollie. I am asking every able-bodied man to take up your mower, your weed eater, your hedgers, your sprayers and take on just one property near you that is dilapidated or run down, and mow it, trim it, spray the edges and keep that which is green knocked down. Spray will limit the amount of trimming you would have to do. If there is junk in the middle of it with weeds, knock down the weeds and spray them. Rocks and stumps, knock the weeds down and spray it. Even an old structure can have a certain charm to it if the grounds are maintained.

An individual went through last summer and fall and cut down the brush on several of these properties and was trying to get the properties to a level that they would not be projects in the future if the good folks of town would just take the initiative to maintain it. It would only require your attention about every 2-3 weeks. And don’t just go around the edges and let the stuff run away next to structures.

Back in the day, this little town was pristine. Well kept. The old guard had pride in their properties and surroundings. Back in that day, there were day’s long celebrations and festivities. If the old guard was able and willing to do these things out of a sense of community pride, then I feel it is incumbent upon us, at the very least, to clean up and maintain the town.

I am not advocating that damage be done to any of these places, just maintain them. It will make a huge difference in the optics of our little town, and I would dare say, that it will make the people that do this feel a sense of pride, and your neighbors will love you.

George Snakenberg

Ollie Iowa