Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
LUTHER L. Wright Junior ROTC cadets in the vests aid city of Ironwood employees and residents unload their junk into a front end loader. The cadets from left to right are John Joki, North Kolesar, Amelia Green, Bo Mattson and Cole Brunell in the hat on the right. JROTC students have assisted with all 15 of Ironwood's spring clean-up days.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - From 8-11 a.m., Saturday, Ironwood hosted its 15th annual spring clean-up day on the vacant lots off Ayer street. Dumpsters were on site as residents drove through the barricaded road in pairs, emptying their items into the bucket of front end loaders.
Toxic materials like car batteries, pesticides, and paint were not accepted for drop off, but old couches and other pieces of furniture were. For the 15th year in a row, the Luther L. Wright Junior ROTC cadets were on hand to assist the city employees in unloading all that stuff.
Colonel (retired) Sandy Keefer, senior army instructor, said they have 48 kids in the program, 22 of which were on hand Saturday. Keefer said many of the cadets have competing extra curricular events.
Zane Ozzello, cadet battalion commander, said this was his fourth year in JROTC and sixth year helping with the clean-up. Ozzello said, "I like (JROTC) a lot, it is a great program for building leadership and getting involved in the community."
Keefer said the mission of JROTC is not to fill the ranks of the military, but to make the cadets better citizens, through event like the Ironwood spring clean up. It is the ROTC program on college campuses that work to provide new officers to the different branches of the military.
Ozzello said he does not intend to join ROTC at Central Michigan next year, where he plans to study astro physics.
