Help ‘polish and shine’ Milford on Bill Kiger Community Cleanup Day

Businesses, schools, youth groups, and non-profit organizations are encouraged to come together for a day to “polish and shine” our county seat.

Property owners and residents are also encouraged to participate in the first annual Bill Kiger Community Cleanup Day in Milford Borough, sponsored by the Milford Enhancement Committee in partnership with the Milford Garden Club and Milford Shade Tree Commission.

The event will be held on Saturday, April 24, with volunteers gathering at 9 a.m. at the Milford Community House on the corner of Broad and Harford Streets. They will be assigned to teams to undertake various cleanup tasks around the borough, such as picking up litter, raking verges, spreading mulch, and seeding. At 12:30 volunteers will be invited to Ann Street Park for a box lunch provided by local restaurants.

Eileen Smith of the Milford Enhancement Committee and Liz Steen, president of the Milford Garden Club, are leading the effort.

“We invite businesses, schools, youth groups and non-profit organizations to have a ‘service day’ and assemble teams and encourage volunteers to help us,” said Smith. “Everyone can participate at their own home or garden as well.”

A volunteer par excellence

The day is named after community leader Bill Kiger. When he retired from a career in publishing in 1997, he became deeply engaged in civic affairs in Milford. He joined the Milford Borough Council, became president of the Pike County Historical Society, chaired the tourism committee for the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, and today remains instrumental with the Historic Preservation Trust of Pike County, where he currently serves as its president, and the Milford Enhancement Committee.

Those official positions represent untold volunteer hours over the years, but it isn’t just for those efforts that Milford’s annual cleanup day is named in Kiger’s honor. It is also because of his roll-up-his-sleeves example. Kiger doesn’t just serve on a board of directors, he goes out and does the work.

Almost anyone who has lived in Milford for a few years has seen him sweeping the grit at the curbs along Broad Street, picking up litter, raking and planting verges, or some similar endeavor. He’s also helped the Lions Club with its tree-lighting and Star-on-the-Knob efforts and has been an outspoken advocate for protecting Milford’s historic buildings and environment.

While many in our community are inspired by Kiger, his own inspiration comes in large part from his family. His mother, Georgiana, was a legendary Pike County community leader. She served as president of the Milford Garden Club for two terms in the 1950s, co-founded the Pike County Arts & Crafts Group, and was the first head of the Milford Shade Tree Commission.

His great-uncle August Kiel was another inspiration. “Augie” was known as “the marble king,” as his business was importing marble. He paved some of the first streets in Milford, bought the first uniforms for the Milford Volunteer Fire Department, and provided the marble and top-mounted eagle for the Soldier’s Monument on Broad Street.

Naming the day in his honor is a way to say “thank you” and to mark the next chapter in Milford’s long history of civic engagement and community enhancement.

To personally volunteer, or to help organize a team, contact Eileen Smith at milfordenhancementcommittee@gmail.com or 570-832-4789.

Please see Mayor Sean Strub’s history of Milford’s civic engagement, “Bill Kiger Community Cleanup Day is part of a long legacy,” at pikecountycourier.com.