Dublin is well-known for its four museums. (They were even recently featured by a Wichita Fall station in a report that can be found at newschannel6now.com!)
But have you been downtown to see what I have dubbed the Karen Wright collection? The founding publisher of The Dublin Citizen and EDC Executive Director has made a habit of picking up stray bits of metal that fall into the street and collecting them at the crosswalk sign near the EDC office on S. Patrick.
You may ask how much can really fall into the intersection of Patrick and Blackjack. The answer is a lot and with quite a bit of variety.
All manners of screws, nails, brackets and other building materials are dropped by passing trucks, just waiting to puncture tires. Wright has had to bring a tire in for repair before, solidifying the reason that she remains eagle-eyed in her efforts to remove the items from the roadway,
The intersection also gets its fair share of oddball items such as cutlery and a canteen (both visible in the accompanying photo) and bicycle parts. (One of her earliest pick-ups was a bike tire.)
Wright reported that she picks up multiple items per day and has since the EDC office moved to its present location at 104 S. Patrick last year.
Part of the reason for the constant item drops may be the steady stream of rigs and trucks and trailers that still go through the intersection even after the Dublin Loop was constructed . Part of it may have to do with the large dips in the highway found at both sides of the block. Whatever the case, Wright (one of Dublin’s many volunteers who focuses their attention on making sure Dublin looks good) is quick to grab any stray pieces that may do some damage and litter the roadway.
Since moving to town as a teenager, that is one of the best things I’ve noticed about small town life: people looking out for one another.
I’ve been to countless school and community events where people volunteer to help clean up even if they aren’t part of the organization or signed up to do so.
There were several such people who helped collect chairs and tables following the recent Hispanic Heritage Festival at Dublin Bottling Works’ Celebration Park. They did such a good job that DBW’s Kent Crouch told Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Amy McDonald that it was the cleanest he had seen it following an event.
Efforts like picking up trash and helping collect chairs and tables don’t take a lot of time but they spell big relief to overworked event planners and people who would otherwise face repairs or cleanup.
So if you’re walking by the Highway 6 MEMBER and 377 2020 2021 intersection, take a glance at the Wright collection and feel free to add any nearby scrap if you notice some in the roadway.
It may only look like a pile of metal and plastic, but it’s one of many testaments to how Dublin looks out for its neighbors.
Paul Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@ dublincitizen.com.