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Group has cleaned up 2-mile section of road since 2009

COLUMBUS—The Adawehi community is celebrating 15 years of cleaning up Fox Mountain Rd. 

In 2009, the community began custodial caretaking of a 2-mile stretch of the road between Hwy. 108 and the bridge over Hwy. 74 near Smith Dairy Rd. The inception of the idea to beautify the area came from when a community member coordinated a similar program through her job and was inspired to expand the idea near her home. 

The cleanup consists of four teams made of six members. Of the 24 who participate, each team goes out to the road to remove trash three times a year. 

“On average, we pick up three large bags of trash and three large bags of recycling every time, sometimes more,” said Adawehi member Gloria Wyatt. 

The group also finds some odd objects among the debris. They’ve uncovered grills, full bags of trash, boxes of household items, bumpers and car parts and even a license plate that the group managed to return to its owner. 

“We do so because the people who live, shop, visit and have appointments at Adawehi travel this route, as well as our friends and neighbors, and we wanted to help care for this beautiful area we call home,” Wyatt explained. “We want to care for our community and make the area more welcoming.”

Adawehi would like to thank everyone who volunteered to keep Polk County beautiful in the roadside clean up.

The Adawehi community is located at 93 Adawehi Ln. in Columbus, and can be contacted at (828) 894-0124 or adawehi.com.