Friday, April 15: ¡Pollinate! Questa Trash Pick-Up + Beautification

In honor of Earth Day and to promote care for the Village of Questa, a community trash collection and beautification day will take place on April 15th, a week before Earth Day. Community members are invited to join Questa junior-senior high school students and event volunteers in the clean-up effort. As well as picking-up trash, the students and volunteers will also scatter seeds of native flowering plants to support local pollinators and beautify the major roadways in Questa. (Seeds will be scattered beyond the reaches of roadside mowing.)

Questa Junior-Senior High School Art Teacher and event organizer, Jennifer Vialpando says, “It is so important for students to get out in the community and be involved in service learning projects like this!”

The trash collection and village beautification is a collaborative effort. Local non-profit program, LEAP (Land, Experience + Art of Place), Questa Junior-Senior High School, Carson National Forest Service Questa Ranger District and the Village of Questa are joining forces to make it happen. Art Teacher Jennifer Vialpando, English Teacher, Maria Cintas and School Principal, Joyce Rock have been working with LEAP director, Claire Coté, FS Questa Ranger District Recreation Assistant, Kevin Lehto and Village of Questa Staff to coordinate the event. Work gloves for the students are generously being provided by Questa Lumber & Hardware Co. and Ambitions Consulting Group.

Marcus Rael, Manager of Questa Lumber states, “We are happy to support student participation and efforts to clean-up our village!”

While junior high students take on clean-up of the Junior-Senior High School Campus, high school students will lead the community clean-up along Hwy 522 and Hwy 38. Community members that come out for the clean-up will focus their efforts in downtown Questa. Willing volunteers are invited to meet at the Questa Plazuela at the main intersection at 9:30 am on Friday, April 15. Parking is at the Questa Visitor Center. Bring work gloves and wear work clothes and bring a sack lunch for a post clean-up picnic if you like.

Questa residents that can’t join on-site are encouraged to clean-up around their own property and take their trash and large items (everything except tires) to the large dumpsters hosted at the Questa Village Offices Friday April 15 and Saturday April 16, 8 am – 4 pm. Questa village residents who show their water bill can dump a truck load for free; for other community members the fee is $10 per load.

This clean-up effort is part of Questa’s 2016 community events and education programs on the theme ¡Pollinate! –  collaborate, create, celebrate”. Why Pollination? It happens every year, all around us, impacts many parts of our lives and yet remains a mystery to many of us. Pollination is a beautiful, complex, and essential process for the survival of plants, animals and humans. Through art, science, ideas, stories and more Questa’s ¡Pollinate! Series is adding to our communities’ thoughts and gardens. Next up is Questa’s “¡Pollinate! Earth Day Celebration and Pop-up Fair” on April 22, 12 noon – 4 pm. Save the date!

Contact: Claire Coté (LEAP) – emailforleap@gmail.com (575) 586-2362
What: ¡Pollinate! Questa Clean-Up Day, bring work gloves, wear work clothes + bring a lunch (if you want)
Where: Meet at the Village Plazuela at the Questa Intersection – park at Questa Visitor Center
When: Friday, April 15th 9:30 am – 12 noon + lunch