Dale City Neighborhood Pride Week

by Connie Moser
(Dale City, VA)

Dale City Civic Association News - June 2010

Each year the Annual Dale City Independence Day Parade draws more visitors. We estimated that more than 10,000 people line the streets of Dale Boulevard to watch the festivities.

Four years ago, I saw parade photos on the front page of the newspaper. I've forgotten the people who were featured, forgotten the caption of the photo, but I remember the graffiti in the background. That's what started me on a path to make a difference in my neighborhood and in my community.

We began Neighborhood Pride Week in 2009 as an attempt to bring volunteers the possibility of empowerment. We chose the week before the Independence Day Parade so all our friends, family, guests and visitors could see what a beautiful community we live in.

Last year, we sent letters to 140 residents on the parade route, telling them our purpose. We explained we were after more than the typical litter pick up. We wanted neat, edged sidewalks and curbs and the gutters swept clean. The response was overwhelming! Well over a hundred of those people showed pride in their community by doing exactly that. The action of the community left our small band of volunteers free to trim and edge, shovel and sweep all the remaining walks and curbs.

The project was such a huge success, we’re coming back again this year! We’ll be working on Dale Boulevard two weekends, June 19 & 20, June 26 & 27. We’ll also try for short shifts June 28 through July 2, to touch up anything we missed.

We ask the residents to do your own edging if possible…if you don’t have an edger, volunteer some time with our crew. We’ll help you out with edging, and you can help us with some of the other tasks.

We have no funding and no professional equipment. Most of our volunteers have full time jobs. No one who worked with us last year lived on Dale Boulevard. We only do this project as a community service to show we care about Dale City.

We try to work in teams of six. You can gather your own team or join one of ours. Call me or e mail me...I'll be glad to help you get started!


Connie Moser
Neighborhood Pride Week Coordinator
703 590-6662
moserconnieathotmail.com

UPDATE: Dale City Neighborhood Pride Week 2010 Results

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