For the first time since the event began 26 years ago, Louise Healy Houle won’t be running the registration table at the town’s annual cleanup day, which starts tomorrow.
An active town volunteer for more than 50 years, Houle founded the event in 1985 and had never missed one. She died in December at the age of 90.
“She was very passionate about town cleanup day,” daughter Kathy Ledoux of Northborough said yesterday. “Last year, she was down there in the morning, sitting in her chair and directing the activities.”
Houle will not be forgotten. Last month, selectmen renamed the event the Louise Houle Annual Cleanup Day, acting on a request from Northborough Woman’s Club President Barbara Volkle and Community Affairs Committee Chairwoman Virginia Simms George.
“It was definitely a moving experience,” Ledoux said. “What better tribute from the community than to have something named after you? We are very proud of her.”
Ledoux said her mom’s inspiration for starting the event – which sends residents out with trash bags to clean up messy areas in town – was simple.
“She was not happy with the trash she was seeing on the roadside in town and thought people coming into town would not get a very good impression,” Ledoux said. “She thought that the town should be cleaned up a little bit.”
So, with the help of churches, the Northborough Rotary Club and other groups, Houle spread the word about her event and helped it flourish each year.
Sometimes public interest waned, Volkle said. When that happened, Houle worked even harder to get the word out, she said, and eventually the day became an annual event.
“The town just looks incredibly better the next day. It’s just great to be able to have families come together, work together and do something that makes such a tangible difference,” said Volkle, whose committee sponsors the event along with the Community Affairs Committee.
Ledoux said her mother always insisted that her children and grandchildren help – a request they will happily fulfill in her honor tomorrow.
“We’ll be there to carry on the tradition, and I know she would have expected us to,” she said. “She’ll be smiling down, appreciative of the efforts to continue this.”
The Louise Houle Annual Cleanup Day will be from 8 a.m. to noon. Residents can register at Melican Middle School, 145 Lincoln St. Volunteers will be treated to a cookout after the event.
(Brad Petrishen can be reached at 508-490-7463 or [email protected].)