By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
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During the early hours on Saturday morning, 11-year-old Enzo Beltran saw his breath from the cold as he scooped up a large piece of plastic from the yard of a north Salina neighborhood home.
He and his father, Luis Beltran, volunteered for the 2023 Salina Fall Fix-Up, working from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. around the community, and both said they enjoyed helping their neighbors.
On Saturday, dozens of locals descended on the Salina community for volunteer projects, like painting porches at the north end of town and clearing paths along the Smoky Hill River.
Projects on this year's Fix-Up schedule included yard work, landscaping, painting porches and kitchens, picking up trash, replanting downtown planters and performing general clean-ups of community spaces.
At the Smoky Hill River, more than 30 volunteers helped clear the new concrete walking path around Salina's YMCA — part of the Smoky Hill Renewal Project.
"I enjoy seeing all the young people coming out to help at the river," said Friends of the River Foundation executive director Jane Anderson. "There seems to be a lot of momentum around our project, so I really appreciate all the support."
Salina Chamber of Commerce will celebrate this new path at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, with a ribbon cutting at Kenwood Aquatic Park.
Volunteers from various Salina organizations joined the community-led project, including the North Salina Community Development group, which aimed to repaint 50 houses on the north side of town.
North Salina Community Development group president Barb Young said volunteers have finished about two-thirds of the 50 designated houses since 2017.
The group participates during Salina's Fall Fix-Ups and Spring Spruce-Ups, painting two to three houses during each event.
"I love seeing that the change from before and after and seeing other people starting to say, 'I can do that too.'" Young said. "We're starting to see other people fix their properties up, and that ripple effect is what's really rewarding to see."
About a dozen volunteers helped paint porches and landscape community spaces in the northern neighborhoods of Salina.
Chuck Beery, a long-time Salina resident, recently saw an improvement in his health, so he shared his excitement over getting back out into the community.
"I met some people I've never met before," Beery said. "Someone who goes to the same church as I do, and I've never met him — that's how it works sometimes."
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In downtown, a group of volunteers from Salina Area Young Professionals helped to prepare Santa Fe's 46 planters for winter by clearing out dead vegetation and adding new mulch.
Salina Area Young Professionals president Cara Emig said she enjoys volunteering for the Fix-Up and encouraging fellow members of SAYP to do the same.
"I know, especially for Fall Fix-Up, they never have as many volunteers as they do for spring spruce up," Emig said. "So we're trying to help out as much as we can so that it's less for them to do by themselves."
