Dakota Boys & Girl Ranch Volunteers | Video

Jenny Castro | 5/24/2012

Since last summer, various organizations in the community have been cleaning up all over the city. But one group in particular was first on the scene last year to quietly start cleaning up the massive amounts of debris in Oak Park.

It`s overwhelming just how much trash is still spread across Minot. For a group of young students at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, they wanted to get an early start on the cleanup at Oak Park.

"They were probably the first group that came in and really stepped up on their own to try and help cleanup the mess we have in our parks,” said Ron Merritt, Minot Parks Director.

"I thought it was a good thing to help the nature and make the park look better so we could get the flood away,” said eighth grader Shelby McCulley.

At the time of the flood, not many people were quick to cleanup, especially considering the debris was still soaked from the flood waters.

"It was really dirty and gross," said McCulley.

"This happened when the conditions were horrible out there. It was muddy and hot and yucky. I mean it was an amazing job that they did," said Merritt.

Putting in 60 man hours, over four days time, the group worked through the mess to cleanup the visible side of Oak Park looking in from 16th Street. When you see the other side of the water, their work is impressive.

McCulley said the reason why is simple, "Because then we helped them out so they didn`t have to do as much.

And for that, they put the first dent in a massive amount of work.

"They made a tremendous difference over there, really motivated everyone to say, ‘Hey, I think we can clean this mess up,’" said Merritt.

For those who drive by the Oak Park everyday, it takes the edge off to see that part of the work is already done.

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