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"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask
what can you do for your country”
---President J.F. Kennedy
The 4th of July Clean-up 2006 in Middletown, Connecticut focused
on the North end of Main Street from O'Roarke's Diner to Route 66. From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., twelve patriotic Buddha
Gaia volunteers participated to celebrate community and their patriotic spirit by helping to keep America clean. Volunteers
noticed that the majority of the litter were cigarette butts and chicken bones. Also, an alley way was clean up and automobile
parts and wood were found and discarded.
This event was covered by the Hartford Courant newspaper and
Channel 3 news, Hartford, as the Big Story on the 5:30 news. The T.V. segment ran for just over 2 minutes.
The July 4th newespaper article is presented below after the pictures.
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| Buddha Gaia meeted up at O'Roarke's Diner on Main Street |
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| Buddha Gaia volunteers picked up a lot of litter. |
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| Main Street was a pit of litter. |
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| Patriots cleaned and organized an alley way. |
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| Channel 3 Eyewitness News interviewed Jerry Sawyer, BG Coordinator. |
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| Car parts, wood, cigarette butts and junk littered Main Street. |
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| Litter and cigarette butts were in abundance. |
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| BG volunteer displayed her patriotic decal. |
Local Group Offers A Gift For Independence Day
July 4, 2006
By SAPNA
MAHESHWARI, Hartford Courant Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN -- Instead of lounging
at the beach or going to a barbecue today, some local residents will celebrate their love for America in a less traditional
way - that actually involves work. Members of the Middletown chapter of Buddha Gaia will don gloves and hats
this morning to clean up the North End.
Buddha Gaia is a new organization, created in January out of the Buddhist Faith
Fellowship, one of Connecticut's largest Buddhist organizations.
G.R. Lewis, a senior facilitator for the Buddhist Faith Fellowship, said
the group formed to "integrate our spirituality into environmentalism - not just talk about environment but actually live
it and do something about it in a nonpolitical way."
The group expects to draw 15 to 20 volunteers this morning for
its second cleanup.
"The Fourth of July is a wonderful time of the year, or day, to celebrate our communities," Lewis
said, adding that President Kennedy's famous quote sums up the day's effort: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your country."
The group encourages volunteers of any faith to meet in front of O'Rourke's Diner
at 728 Main St. at 9 a.m. to begin the 90-minute cleanup.
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