On Saturday April 23, Trinity Church's Rev. Sharon Gracen invites you to "...show the green some love" during the town's annual "Rid Litter Day."

Gracen's idea, "Clean the Green," is receiving support from Branford Green Committee and also Branford Land Trust (BLT), which runs "Rid Litter Day," an annual community spring clean up also taking place April 23 this year.

Gracen's hope is to enlist families, groups and representatives of businesses and organizations to come out on April 23, rakes and gloves in hand, and take a section of the green to help tease out years of ground-in bits of garbage. From bottle caps to cigarette butts and other tiny discarded items, the debris deters the green's grassy growth.

Gracen especially encourages those who love to come out to enjoy the green (or use the space as a venue for their organizations, events and programs) to turn up on the morning of April 23. Both "Clean the Green" and "Rid Litter Day" volunteers can meet on the Town Hall steps April 23, beginning at 8 a.m. (Both events run through noon; Rid Litter Day has a rain date of April 30).

While there is no rain date for Clean the Green this year; Gracen hopes to see this first-time event become an annual effort.

"It's de-trashing, or de-thatching, the green," said Gracen. "It will then clear the way for Parks and Recreation to aerate and seed, and give it a good month to get a hold before the Branford Festival happens. What we want is everybody who enjoys the green to come and enjoy being a part of giving back to it. We want people to have the chance to take part in this common treasure that we hold."

Trinity Church will host a Pancake Breakfast (free will donations accepted) at 8 a.m. on April 23 to help send volunteers off to work. While Rid Litter Day volunteers are asked to wear sturdy shoes and gloves, Clean the Green volunteers are asked to bring their own gloves and rakes.

As Gracen herself recently discovered, "...you can't get this out by mowing or using a leaf blower; you've got to come out here with a rake."

After she and her husband conducted a pre-Easter spring clean of a lawn outside Trinity on the green, "...we filled a tarp with so much stuff, it took the two of us to drag it," said Gracen. "To show what we're talking about, I was out on the green one day; and I saw an earring that I had donated to the Trinity Fair two years before! It was ground into the dirt."

Green Committee chairman David Minicozzi said the focus for the green clean-up will be the main lawn, or Section A.

"It abuts Main Street and it's the part of the Green that gets the heaviest use," said Minicozzi. "We have about 30 scheduled events annually on the green. Parks and Recreation does a wonderful job and a lot of hard work; but this is an opportunity to help people give the green a little extra TLC. This is their chance to give back. We're not trying to do it better than the town; we're just trying to instill some community values."

The green will be divided into plots for groups to clean. Bags and a Dumpster will be provided for trash collected.

"I'm excited about families coming down here and getting your plot to clean, so that every time kids come down here to throw a Frisbee or chase each other around the flagpole, they'll say, '... this was my plot, I did this,'" said Gracen. "I think it will give people such a great sense of ownership; but also it's a gratitude opportunity . We get so much from the services in this town. This is just an opportunity to say, 'It's my town; I want to be a part of making sure it looks as awesome as possible.'"

Minicozzi said most may not recognize the impact of the heavy use of Section A, but the wear and tear is quite visible when seen in aerial photos.

"It's great to drive by and say it's a beautiful place, but if you're here putting in some sweat equity on April 23, you'll remember it later on. When you come down to the Jazz Festival or Branford Festival, you'll say, 'I helped clean this up.'" said Minicozzi. "Maybe people will learn to take better care of it, knowing they had a hand in making it look nice."

Meanwhile, BLT Rid Litter Day organizer Maryanne Hall, who is also a new member of the Green Committee (representing Branford Historical Society) has been busy inviting the community to once again help rid Branford's landscape of litter.

"It's a Branford Land Trust event that's planned to be around Earth Day. Many people know that it's happening because it's been an annual event for some time; but we also put the word out with posters around town and news in the local papers," said Hall.

Rid Litter Day volunteers can bring collected trash to the town-provided Dumpster located on Town Hall Drive (across from Town Hall). Residents, groups and organizations will be asked to fan out into community to spring clean away trash on roadsides, beaches and trails. Sturdy shoes and gloves are recommended. Bags and area assignments will be provided and a map of "trouble spots" will be available.

Organizations, businesses and other groups are encouraged to volunteer on April 23. For more information on "Clean the Green" call (203) 488-2681. For more information on Rid Letter Day, call (203) 488-4272.