
A record crowd of about 200 people attended the 5th-annual Mayors’ 49th Street Cleanup & 4th-annual Chiefs’ Chat and Community Forum on the morning of Saturday, October 13, said the main organizer Margarete Tober, president of the non-profit Gulfport Neighbors volunteer group which organized the event.
The event began at 8:15 a.m. in Trolley Market Square, between the two Tangerine Avenues at 49th Street, which is the boundary between Gulfport to the east and St. Petersburg to the west.
The theme of the event is “One street, two cities, one goal – collaboration,” said Tober.
Key dignitaries who attended included St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson, St. Petersburg Police Chief Tony Holloway, Gulfport Police Chief Robert Vincent and special guest Pinellas County Schools Police Chief Luke Williams.
The crowd was treated to a complementary breakfast, listened to short speeches, used litter pickers to retrieve trash and recyclable items, learned about conservation from various vender booths, enjoyed a wax hand dipping and coloring activity, and indulged in free ice cream and cake to celebrate the 5th milestone year for the cleanup.
Registered participants were assigned to one of four different teams for the cleanup. A total of 128 pounds of items that can be recycled and 528 pounds of garbage were collected, said Tober.






