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April 8, 2025
Local 4-H Club sets example of neighbors helping neighbors
By Robert Brischetto
Special to the Prophet
It’s not uncommon in Bandera County for empty lots to be used as dumping sites. Here’s a recent case.
Adelina Castro, age 77 and recently widowed, owns a lot on Georgia Avenue in Lakehills. She was notified by concerned neighbors that someone had disposed of a dilapidated travel trailer on her lot.
The Castros did not have the means to hire someone to break it down and haul it off to the dump. So, neighbors stepped in to help. Ellinora, Esther and Ezra Groot are members of Pipe Creek/Lakehills 4-H Club. With help from their parents, Ace and Renee, the illegal dump became a project. The club raised the funds to buy supplies.
On a recent Saturday, 17 youths and 12 adults descended on the lot to clean it up. Adelena and son Jose pitched in. The club finished it off with a hot-dog roast, sodas and popsicles.
One of the parents brought a tractor with a front-end loader and trailer, another brought a second trailer to haul the trash. They asked County Commissioner Greg Grothues to waive dumping fees.
The 4-H Club set an example of what may be accomplished with citizen action in rural areas lacking trash clearing services.
For the past three years, Don’t Make Waste Bandera (DMWB) has collaborated with the Silver Sage’s Meals on Wheels program in a Yards Project, a program to clear yards for elderly and disabled residents. They removed trash accumulating in three Lakehills yards and cleared 20 yards in the Wharton’s Dock area. The Groot family had participated in one of these cleanups for a meals-on-wheels client in the Lakehills area.
If you have a group interested in participating as volunteers or contributing to the effort, send an email to [email protected], subject “Yards Project.” To learn more about the Yards Project, visit their DON’T MAKE WASTE BANDERA website (DMWB.net) or Bandera Recycles on Facebook.
Adelina Castro, age 77 and recently widowed, owns a lot on Georgia Avenue in Lakehills. She was notified by concerned neighbors that someone had disposed of a dilapidated travel trailer on her lot.
The Castros did not have the means to hire someone to break it down and haul it off to the dump. So, neighbors stepped in to help. Ellinora, Esther and Ezra Groot are members of Pipe Creek/Lakehills 4-H Club. With help from their parents, Ace and Renee, the illegal dump became a project. The club raised the funds to buy supplies.
On a recent Saturday, 17 youths and 12 adults descended on the lot to clean it up. Adelena and son Jose pitched in. The club finished it off with a hot-dog roast, sodas and popsicles.
One of the parents brought a tractor with a front-end loader and trailer, another brought a second trailer to haul the trash. They asked County Commissioner Greg Grothues to waive dumping fees.
The 4-H Club set an example of what may be accomplished with citizen action in rural areas lacking trash clearing services.
For the past three years, Don’t Make Waste Bandera (DMWB) has collaborated with the Silver Sage’s Meals on Wheels program in a Yards Project, a program to clear yards for elderly and disabled residents. They removed trash accumulating in three Lakehills yards and cleared 20 yards in the Wharton’s Dock area. The Groot family had participated in one of these cleanups for a meals-on-wheels client in the Lakehills area.
If you have a group interested in participating as volunteers or contributing to the effort, send an email to [email protected], subject “Yards Project.” To learn more about the Yards Project, visit their DON’T MAKE WASTE BANDERA website (DMWB.net) or Bandera Recycles on Facebook.