Eight pounds of dog poop.
That’s how much dog waste Harry Jadick, the treasurer of the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association, estimated he picked up before its third annual Easter egg hunt at Sturgis Park, known as “Pretzel Park.”
The association is tasked with looking after the recreational property at 1100-1198 Electric St. at North Washington Avenue in Scranton.
Roberta Jadick, of Dunmore, the secretary of the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association and wife of Harry Jadick, posted on the association’s Facebook page, pleading with neighbors to please clean up after their dogs.
She explained to anyone who might be uncertain what signs at the park, reading “Please curb your dog,” are asking people to do.
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Just hours after a hefty clean up that culled an estimated 8 pounds of dog waste from Pretzel Park, children run and play at an annual Easter egg hunt hosted by the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association. (Roberta Jadick / Submitted)
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Just hours after a hefty clean up that culled an estimated 8 pounds of dog waste from Pretzel Park, children run and play at an annual Easter egg hunt hosted by the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association. (Roberta Jadick / Submitted)
“I’m sure that when we have been out walking our dogs, we have seen signs that say please curb your dog. They’re on sidewalks and in parks. But do we know what that means? It means please clean up after your dog,” Jadick’s post began.
It went on to sympathize with the children and families who frequent the park, including “100 children” who were expected to arrive there on Sunday for the annual Easter egg hunt.
“Every day children play in Pretzel Park, and it’s filled with dog poop,” she wrote. “It’s easy to grab a bag at home put it in your pocket and when your dog goes to the bathroom, pick it up and put it in one of the garbage receptacles. This isn’t hard. There is no reason that a member of the neighborhood association needs to go to Pretzel Park today to make sure that it is safe for children.”
In an interview with The Times-Tribune, Jadick commended her husband for the pre-hunt pickup, calling him a “poop cleaner extraordinaire.”
“My husband, god bless him, went the afternoon before (the hunt),” she said. “He had one of those paper leaf bags and it was a third to a half filled with poop that he picked up.”
Jadick reported that in addition to the “8 pounds of poop” following his first cleanup, there was more Sunday that had to be picked up before the Easter egg hunt.
The egg hunt was a success, Jadick reported.
“We had about 125 kids,” Jadick said, adding that two were grand prize winners of bicycles. “We even had a squirrel that was absconding with some of our eggs, that added a little bit of levity to the time that we were waiting for everything to start.”
Laura Agostini, the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association president, said she isn’t sure why some people can’t just clean up after their dogs.
“You know, I really don’t understand it,” she said, adding that it’s “one of the responsibilities as a dog owner, and it’s not that hard to take a plastic bag with you or get the little doggie bags,” which currently aren’t available at the park. “I do think most people are good about it, but it only takes a few to ruin it for everybody.”
She said she’s even seen seniors who have trouble bending down bring “pooper scoopers” with them out on dog walks.
“I think it’s just laziness, some don’t seem to care,” she said, adding that the association and the city of Scranton are taking measures to protect against any poop-leaving perps, as well as working to keep the park safer and cleaner.
“The city did put up a sign, ‘curb your dog,’” Agostini said, adding she wasn’t sure if it helped or not at the park — which she said is “not a dog park at all,” yet many neighbors do walk their dogs there. She walks her own “pit mix” in the park, and said she always cleans up after her dog. She reported that she intended to email the city immediately to ask that a dog bag station be installed. Jadick said cameras are also on the way.
“The city has been wonderful,” Agostini said. “Parks and Rec have been fabulous. Anytime we make a request, it’s done fairly quickly.”
On Saturday, May 10, the association will host an annual cleanup day from 9 a.m. to noon, primarily to plant flowers and beautify Sturgis Park. No preregistration is required. Some gardening and cleanup tools will be available, but helpers are welcome to bring their own. Agostini said in the last three to four years, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has “stepped up” in a big way to help keep the park maintained.
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