Historical April 1988 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
For the benefit of newcomers to the neighborhood and City, Project Blitz is an annual “spring cleaning” day for alleys and public areas.
This year it is set for April 30.
In brief: the City is divided into Regions, each Region divided into Areas, each Area divided into Blocks.
Each Region has a volunteer chairman; the chairman recruits and coordinates volunteers to serve as Area Commanders; Commanders recruit volunteers to serve as Block Captains; Block Captains recruit volunteers to work the day of Blitz— cleaning alleys, planting flowers in public areas, or working on a special project of the block’s choice.
The City provides: trash pickup from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., both for regular refuse and bulky items; flowers to plant in public areas; and a limited number of garbage bags, brooms, rakes, and shovels for cleaning.
With an advanced request, the City will also provide heavy equipment, such as dump trucks or bull dozers for specific projects. Anheuser-Busch sponsors a competition for Best Beautification Projects, and Best Cleanup Projects. Prizes are awarded in each category for first ($100), second ($50), and third ($25) place within each Region; regional winners are automatically entered in the citywide competition for first ($1000), second ($500), and third ($250) place awards. Entries in the contest must be submitted in advance with “before” photographs, projects must be completed by Blitz Saturday. ‘ Blitz Day is a project of Operation Brightside, a not-for-profit corporation supported by the City, and administered by Executive Director Susie Feinberg, also a Skinker-DeBaliviere resident. Brightside works closely with the Parks Department and other City agencies year-round on beautification and clean-up programs, but the bulk of their support and manpower is volunteer. 1988 marks the sixth year for the very successful Blitz program.
The Skinker Debaliviere Community Council and Sam Green are the Commanders for our neighborhood, Area A, again this year. Area headquarters will be at the SDCC offices, 6010A Kingsbury. Four Corners will be submitted as a special project in the beautification category.
The Kingsbury Kiosk Library at Four Corners will celebrate its fifth birthday with a party the Saturday after Blitz on May 7; therefore, the plaza deserves extra attention—cleaning, planting, flowers, etc.— on Blitz Day. Neighbors are encouraged to clean their alleys in the morning and then around 11-11:30, head down to Four Corners.
All volunteers are invited to have a cold soft drink and hot dog, cooked and served by volunteers from St. Roch Church, at the plaza. Of course, any assistance with the project there is appreciated, too.
For this year’s Blitz, five varieties of flowers are available: Apollo Marigolds, Moonshot Marigolds, mixed-color periwinkles. Shasta Daisies, and mixed-color hibiscus.
If you wish to volunteer, or order flowers, tools, bags, etc., contact your block captain; if you don’t know the captain for your block, call SDCC.
If you have a group outside a specific block, e.g. a school or church organization, who would like to participate in Blitz, also call SDCC, 862-5122.
A footnote: the City Inspectors are typically lenient before Blitz Day, and do not issue citations for trash, weeds, etc., in the alleys. Blitz Day is an opportunity to get out and clean up and bring the alleys up to code.
The Inspectors are not so lenient after Blitz.
Original photograph caption
A successful clean-up on BLITZ Day in 1985. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988, page 3. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1988_04.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
