Nearly 300 Volunteers Brave Weather

Equipped with garden gloves and rain slickers, work boots and umbrellas, shovels, rakes and waders, wheelbarrows and paint rollers, almost 300 volunteers turned out Saturday to work on various projects for Pinole Community Service Day.

Slightly under 300 people showed up to put in three hours of work on several beautification projects around the city.  The Pinole Youth Center got a new coat of paint. Mounds of weeds got yanked up near the tennis courts at the Pinole Library. The vacant lot at San Pablo and Tennent avenues got a new look. The Bay got cleared of 56 disposed tires and a few shopping carts. Everyone and everything got eventually got wet, although most of the rain waited until about 11 a.m., about 90 minutes after work started.

Despite the threat of grey and rainy weather, volunteers shone with upbeat attitudes. Many expressed ready willingness to switch from a few outdoor projects that got rained out to ones that carried on as planned in spite of outdoor conditions.

Curb painting at the Pinole Senior Center had to be postponed, so people picked up litter on the grounds instead. When one project had enough workers, volunteers shifted to another places in need.

Kids, families, civic leaders, employees of local businesses — and naturally, elected officials — pitched in for the first officially designated city-wide effort. Members of the Pinole Community Services Commission organized it, along with city staff and a long list of civic organizations and businesses.

Some people showed up for pet projects in mind, others seemed content to be pointed in any direction.

Pinole Mayor Roy Swearingen said the work on the vacant lot, where he spent his time,  is "one of the most significant ones for our community,  that they'll be able to see day in and day out. There's nothing being developed there at the present time and we felt we could dress up the downtown area by putting in some sort of rock garden, so to speak. I think it's going to be a real asset that our whole community can be proud of that they took part in."

That project, dubbed Community Corner, had been proposed by the Pinole Chamber of Commerce. Ivette Rico, chamber president, said that after Saturday's work, mulch will be added to some areas, as will a sign.

There were some no-shows, but walk-in registrants made up the difference More than 300 people registered prior to Saturday but more than 100 signed up on the day of the event, said Pinole Recreation Director Amy Wooldridge.