Hundreds help clean up Monroeville

Although the pavilions at Monroeville’s Community Park West have no doors, plenty of door prizes were at one for the taking, some with a renewed degree of popularity.

“We always get a lot of donations from the Pittsburgh Pirates. We usually don’t call them right off the bat, but this season, we’re definitely going to call them first,” Mayor Nick Gresock said, acknowledging the team’s hot start to the 2023 season. “Let’s go, Bucs!”

He proceeded to call numbers for winners of various prizes during an April 29 picnic in one of the park’s 250-seat pavilions to culminate the 28th annual Jack Sedlak Community Clean-Up, after volunteers spent the morning sprucing up the municipality under gray skies with an occasional drizzle.

“We had 400 people signing up for this event who definitely gathered a lot of garbage,” Gresock said, “and we appreciate it.”

In addition to being treated to lunch, participants received tickets for door prizes courtesy of an impressive number of donors, the Pirates included.

The popular spring cleaning effort is named after a former Monroeville council member who started the community event half a decade before his death from cancer in 1995.

“This event would not be possible without the efforts of his son Joe,” Gresock said. “There’s a lot and lot of planning that goes into this event, and Joe works very hard at this every year and does an amazing job.”

The mayor also credited another son, Jay Sedlak, with organizing a large group of individuals to help gather roadside refuse for bagging.

Numerous community groups participated, along with municipal council and staff members, in helping to make Monroeville more presentable in the wake of inconsiderate types who prefer not to bother with trash cans.