Faces of the Valley: Allegheny Township man steadfast in mission of cleaning up roadways

A dedicated senior citizen is doing his part to tidy up roads in Allegheny Township.

Dahrl Talmage, 84, of Allegheny Township began volunteering 14 years ago, collecting litter discarded along Route 56 and School Road.

“I like the roads to look nice and clean,” Talmage said.

Talmage said he travels a lot and always evaluates how clean roads appear in other states.

“I see states clean, and then I come home and see the trash along the bypass,” he said.

Sporting a bright orange vest for safety, Talmage spends hours each week collecting trash, including beer cans, bottles, fast food wrappers and parts of cars.

Once, he found a folded-up $20 bill.

“It seems like the bypass is a dumping area, and people just throw everything out there,” Talmage said. “It’s so nice when it’s all picked up.”

Dahrl Talmage, 84, of Allegheny Township has volunteered his time picking up trash alongside Route 56 in Allegheny Township for 14 years. ⁦@VNDNews⁩ ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ ⁦@TribWestmoreCo⁩ pic.twitter.com/XJZEYJiWJu

— Joyce Hanz (@hanz_joyce) March 7, 2022

Born in Apollo, Talmage moved to Allegheny Township when he was 4 years old and has lived there ever since. He graduated from the former Vandergrift High School in 1955.

Talmage retired from Allegheny Ludlum 26 years ago, where he worked as a transportation pricing analyst.

After retiring, he began his trash patrol — as a one-man volunteer crew.

Collecting trash has resulted in a few episodes of unexpected drama for Talmage.

“Once I went to pick up plastic trash semi-buried in the ground. Turned out a snake was underneath it,” Talmage said.

Talmage had another close call with a serpent. Retrieving his work gloves from on the ground along Route 56, he found “a snake had curled up by them. That one tried to bite me,” Talmage said.

Most days are quiet and routine. From time to time, a motorist will stop to thank him for picking up garbage.

Township officials granted permission for Talmage to use the township dumpster to dispose of the collected trash.

He donates collected aluminum cans to the Roaring Run Watershed Association, where recycling proceeds are used to help maintain the trail.

Allegheny Township Supervisor Jamie Morabito described Talmage as “84 years young” and praised his long-running volunteer outreach.

“Mr. Talmage has a work ethic and pure dedication. It’s easy to see his passion for the township,” Morabito said.

John Maher lives in the same Allegheny Township neighborhood as Talmage.

“I appreciate that he makes the community look better and he never complains,” Maher said.

Talmage said picking up trash along a mile-long section of Route 56 provides exercise for him, but that’s not why he does it.

“I want people to come through our township and see that it looks neat, instead of like a pig pen,” Talmage said.

And his message to motorists? “Take your garbage home.”

Talmage said he has no plans to end his beautification mission.

“I even thought about expanding,” he said.