Our Daily Show! With Cj Nasello: Talkin Trash, Blog Talk, and More!
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ROXANA - Rusty Wheat, known for his trash cleanup efforts along Illinois Route 143 in Wood River and Roxana, noted that there’s plenty of “good, bad and ugly” in his work.
Wheat started the one-man Chain Gang initiative, which picks up trash along the road once a week. He explained that he has fought hard to keep the roads clean, and he hopes the community helps him continue his efforts.
“Not everybody gets as fired up about trash as I do,” he laughed.
Wheat has worked closely with the Madison County Board, including Board Chairman Chris Slusser, to advocate for trash cleanup in the county. He noted that the Village of Roxana recently secured a $5,000 grant to help with cleanup efforts, and while Wheat is pleased about this, he is disappointed that more local municipalities did not apply for the grant.
He urges County Board members to collaborate with the mayors in their towns and push for more concentrated efforts to clean up or prevent the trash on the roadways.
“Chris Slusser, I hope you can hear me, because I’m one of your biggest supporters, but what is going on is not working. The trash is still there. How is this any better than when your previous administration was there? So just think about that,” Wheat said. “If everybody’s happy with the trash sitting along the streets, then I’ll just shut up. But if you’re not happy with the trash along there, I would call your Board member or Slusser and ask them, ‘What’s the deal? Why aren’t you calling all the mayors in the area and telling them to get with it?’”
Wheat would like to see an “active cleanup force” in the county that handles most of the trash pickup efforts along the roadways. He said “maybe a couple of guys on a weekly basis” could pick up the trash that is littered in these areas.
“We could do a much better job,” he added. “Until we recognize the fact that this is not going to go away, we’ve got to appropriate some money to clean up behind these trucks instead of standing around, pointing fingers.”
While Wheat voiced his opinions on ways that the county could improve, he added that he is “very, very blessed” and has generally had a great experience cleaning up the roadways.
He noted that he has encountered some “cowboy drivers” who sometimes drive too closely to him, and there are people with whom he disagrees. But he is pleased to see that many people support his efforts. This support has gone a long way for Wheat.
“If I could bottle up all the goodness that comes my way and distribute that in bottles throughout the county, there would be no trash,” he said. “Everybody would just be intoxicated by what I get when people come by and say, ‘Hey, thank you.’”
As Wheat continues his work to clean up the roadways and maintain Illinois Route 143 in Wood River and Roxana, he encourages local mayors and County Board members to work together and continue advocating for trash cleanup. He noted that he wants to see more from his elected officials.
“I’m a hard guy, and elected officials, I hold them just to a higher standard because I think they’re a little smarter than me, and I like to think that their actions can prove that,” he added.
Wheat encourages the community to join him, whether it’s on his stretch of road or elsewhere in the Riverbend.
