Donuts, coffee, neighbors, and… some trash at roadside cleanup

If you think the roadside cleanup day is about trash pickers, yellow vests, and sanitation gloves, you’d be wrong. I thought the same thing, so we can be wrong together. 😂

It’s really about ☕ coffee, 🍩 donuts, and conversation with neighbors. Duh! 🥰

Maybe trash cleanup, too. But the heart and soul of the day is about taking pride in our town together and connecting with friends, especially those we might not often see, even though we live nearby.

Semi-annual Chadds Ford roadside cleanup event

For more than two decades, the Chadds Ford roadside cleanup has been a flagship event for the Chadds Ford Township Residents Association (CFTRA). In spring and fall, residents gather at the township building and chat for about an hour over coffee and donuts while doling out road clean-up assignments.

Armed with trash bags, residents head out in pairs to find and collect trash along township arteries in Chadds Ford (excluding Route 1 and 202, both a little treacherous and under PennDOT’s purview). On busier roads like Ring Road, a volunteer may drive with their flashers behind the cleanup crew as a safety precaution.

Mostly, neighbors gather garbage like beverage containers and fast-food wrappers. Occasionally, they stumble on collections of tires, an old fridge, or other waste that requires special removal. It’s all in an effort to keep our roads clean and show pride in how we collectively care for our shared spaces.

On November 1, about 25 resident volunteers cleaned up 35-40 bags of trash from our residential roads. Volunteers at the semiannual event range in age from young to old, including some families who attend together. In years past, CFTRA has partnered with groups such as the Scouts and the Unionville High School Honor Society to encourage participation among our younger residents.

I spoke with the organizer and CFTRA President, Susan Worteck, about the event and why it was important to her. She said that the trash cleanup was really a secondary benefit. The roadside cleanup was the first community event that attracted her to the CFTRA decades ago, and she’s been involved ever since. She looks forward to spending time with neighbors she doesn’t often see while they work together to clean up the streets.

This year, she was chatting with a fellow attendee during coffee and donuts and happened to reconnect two Chadds Ford residents from days past. They knew each other from many years ago but hadn’t crossed paths in quite a while. Serendipity! 💛 It was a touching reminder for Worteck about how simple community events can be meaningful ways to build connections and more robust networks within our township.

While dates for 2026 roadside clean-ups aren’t set yet, make a mental note that they’ll be back in the spring (around Earth Day) and in the late fall. Keep an eye out for announcements from CFTRA, this newsletter, and the township. We’ll be sure to let you know!

What’s next for CFTRA?

I’m so glad you asked (and so is Susan 😉)! On December 6, plan to attend the annual Holiday Tree Lighting. 🎄 It’s quite the affair, and attracted 135 residents last year.

Before the sun sets, grab a cup of hot cocoa, chat with neighbors, decorate a gingerbread cookie, hang ornaments on the tree, meet 🎅🏼 Santa, and listen to carolers from Unionville High School. As dusk falls, stay for the pièce de résistance: a magical lighting of the large evergreen tree next to Turner’s Mill Park, just behind the township building. ✨

P.S. Did you see the Halloween trunk-or-treat that CFTRA co-hosted with the Chadds Ford Elementary PTO? Check out some of the snazzy trunks at the first (and certainly not last) annual CFTRA trunk-or-treat.