Citizen of the Week

From the Random Acts of Kindness Department, this was submitted by a reader:

We pride ourselves in Yellow Springs on the number of pleasant surprises that happen in our neighborhoods and especially downtown. There are the street musicians, the flower power brigade, the secret snow shovelers. There are also a goodly number of unrecognized villagers who stop and clear branches out of street or off the sidewalk after a storm and the people who pick up the teller slips that are dropped near the ATMs. Little acts of caring how the place looks and its safety, carried out by lots of people, make a huge difference in urban livability.

Here is a picture story of one such secret, volunteered caring: A villager walks his dog on the Mills Lawn playground always prepared to leave nothing behind. His dog visits a tree. The owner sees a poison ivy vine beginning to climb the tree. Um, not good he thinks and goes on. A week later, there is the dog walk, the tree and this time the poison ivy vine has grown three feet higher and is spreading around the trunk of the tree. But he is a busy villager and needs to get on his way. But, as soon as he could get to it, he lines up his choppers, the herbicide, the stakes and caution tape. But this villager is also an educator and this is a project on a school campus. He photocopies an illustrated page about poison ivy which can be a serious problem for children, slips it into a weatherproof envelope and heads for the playground.

The ivy is cut down, the root dug out, the ground treated, the site safely marked, the information sheet is posted and the dangerous ivy is taken home by the caring man for safe disposal. The children are safer, the tree is healthier, the playground more beautiful.

Now we can smile and rightfully say, “This is the way Yellow Springs is.”

But do these secret caregivers always have to stay secret? I didn’t ask his permission. He’ll probably be embarrassed. But I think Ed Dressler of Davis Street has earned the “Citizen of the Week Award,” a program I have just begun with this story.

Editor's note: This piece itself is a random act of kindness, as the writer has asked to remain anonymous.