Despite its name, the cleanup initiative extended beyond Cincinnati to 86 organized cleanup projects in the tri-state, including Anderson Township, Boone County and Dillsboro, Ind.

Reggie Kuhn said about 180 people showed up to help clean in Northside.

"They were all ages, all races, all economic stations," she said. "It was a really diverse group, which made it really fun."

Surprisingly, "fun" is a word often used by the volunteers.

That's because the Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is a good way to make new friends and always includes a chance to socialize after the work is done, said Linda Holterhoff, executive director of the program.

"After the cleanup, people gather and have a cookout and pizza and some people say, 'We ought to do this once a month,' " she said.

Plus, the cleanup isn't all stuffing bags with trash and dragging them away. With the help of the Cincinnati Park Board, participants also planted 650 bushes, shrubs and trees.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is affiliated with the Great American Cleanup, a national program established 18 years ago.

This year, the city of Cincinnati used the festivities to kick off its new "40 Intersections" program, in which municipal workers will clean main streets that lead into high-traffic areas three or four times a month.

"As the communities are working and cleaning inside their communities, the city is launching this initiative to keep the gateways and corridors to their communities clean," said Holterhoff.

"It's a perfect match."

Holterhoff said clean, attractive neighborhoods beget clean, attractive neighborhoods.

"It's just been documented over and over and it's part of the broken window theory, which is that when one window is broken and not fixed," she said, "soon there will be another and another and another."

Publication Date: 04-28-2003