The Hammonton Gazette 09/21/16 Edition | Page 4

Green Weekend filled with many fun events Wednesday, September 21, 2016 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3 by Stephen Pistone GAZETTE STAFF WRITER HAMMONTON—Hammonton Green Weekend kicked off Saturday, Sept. 17 with a wide range of events focused on doing good, helping others and bringing the community together. The festivities began Saturday morning with MainStreet Hammonton’s 12th annual town-wide yard sale. The town-wide yard sale featured more than 80 homes and businesses, so there was no shortage of unique items and treasures for sale. “I think it’s growing every year. It’s getting bigger; people are coming out in droves. I just drove through town, and the town is packed: people are all over the place. It brings out the town, and it brings people in from other towns to come here,” Giuseppe Trepiccione said. Trepiccione enjoys the townwide yard sale both as a seller and a consumer. Sports memorabilia, books and furniture are usually on his shopping list, but it’s the people that really make the town-wide yard sale special. “You just get to see people you haven’t seen in a while. Meet people, talking to people, just having the interaction with people; that’s the great thing about it,” Trepiccione said. Following the theme of people getting rid of unwanted materials was the annual Recycling Central event at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society carnival grounds on Saturday. The event, hosted by the Hammonton Education Foundation with major sponsor BB&T, encourages people to drop off any recyclable materials they have laying around, whether it be paper, old cell phones, books, eyeglasses and more. A paper-shredding truck from DocuVault Delaware Valley was located on the fairgrounds. Cars lined up one by one, unloading boxes and bags full of paper to be securely shredded and recycled. Event organizers and participants were very pleased with the DiMeglio Septic, Est. 1975 ~ DEP 03261 ~ Paul DiMeglio turnout. Paul Pullia, Hammonton High School senior and president of the Hammonton Green Club, believes the community really buys into the importance of the cause. “I feel like as the years have gone on, more and more people understand the importance of coming out here and giving stuff. Instead of just tossing it, it can be re-used and recycled, and it can actually help the community by not just tossing the waste. A lot of the waste in this community just stays near here. It doesn’t get shipped away like a lot of the cities,” Pullia said. Pullia was collecting cellphones, while the Hammonton Lions Club were beside him collecting eyeglasses, sunglasses and hearing aids. Also recycled were yoga mats, folding chairs, clothing, luggage and more by Migrant Worker Outreach program director Dory Dickson, as well as books for a book drive organized by Atlantic County Library branch manager Kitty Ostrum. Proceeds from Recycling Central go to the Hammonton Education Foundation, which gave $31,464