Downtown gets a spring cleaning during long weekend (6 photos)

A couple dozen people met up at the Downtown Association Saturday morning, eager to chip in where they could for the association’s first annual downtown spring cleanup.

“We’re raking leaves, sweeping dirt, picking up garbage,” Downtown Association General Manager Josh Ingram told SooToday. “We just thought it would be a fun way to take a little pride in the downtown and do our part.”

Odd Job Jacks provided cleaning supplies for participants, while the Downtown Association partnered up with Future SSM to round up some prizes for before-and-after cleanup photos bearing the #trashtag hashtag on social media.

“You know, when you take ownership of something, it really changes your perspective of something - makes you feel more familiar, makes you want to be downtown and want to invest a little bit more,” said Ingram. “Investment doesn’t have to be dollars or owning a store, it can just be the fact that this is my neighbourhood, and know I feel like I’m a part of something.”

“So maybe next time you walk by a little bit of trash or a broken Coke bottle or something, you’ll think, ‘this is my turf, I want to make sure it stays clean.’”