As the sun peeked over the Santa Catalina Mountains on Saturday, February 22, fourteen SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association (SPA) members gathered at DesertView parking lot trading paddles for grabbers to battle litter on Edwin Road.
SPA has actively participated in Pinal County’s Adopt A County Road Program since 2017, supplying volunteers with safety vests and grabbers that get a good workout twice a year, typically in February and August. This ongoing commitment has earned them Outstanding Volunteer status, a recognition awarded for every five years of service.
Launched in 1998, the Adopt A County Road Program currently boasts 119 volunteer groups of corporations, families, churches and clubs united in a common cause to keep county roads clean. In 2024 alone, they collected a whopping 1,775 big orange bags of trash!
Groups join the program for a variety of reasons. Corporations benefit from advertising and team-building opportunities while families often find it a meaningful way to honor loved ones. In SaddleBrooke, the Community Church, Cycle Masters Club, Hiking Club and SPA demonstrate care for our community by keeping our entrance roads free of debris. The County values its many volunteers because they reduce staff hours and free up resources for road maintenance and repairs. Overall, a win-win for everyone!
Pinal County Public Information Officer Ray Telles praised the program’s volunteers, stating, “Keeping our desert clean is a monumental task and there is no way we could do it without the help of our dedicated volunteers. We greatly thank everyone for their efforts.” Telles also emphasized the county is always looking for new members and encourages groups and individuals to check out the program at pinal.gov/adopt-a-county-road.
SPA’s recent cleanup, led by Terry and Karol Jackson, removed 10 bags of litter from Edwin Road. Working in teams—one with a grabber and one with an orange bag—the stretch between Columbus Boulevard and Eagle Crest Ranch Boulevard was cleared of soda cans, cigarette packs, take-out containers and every other imaginable type of debris in just 90 minutes!
SPA thanks the following members who passed on pickling to help with the picking on Saturday, February 22: Betsy Amento, Linda Bailey, Patrick Barry, John Bidegain, Dennis Downey, Steven Gallagher, Bill Gray, Terry Jackson, Karol Jackson, Doreen Morgan, Deane Neeley, Michael Ross, Jeff Sehn and Frank Shipton.
