By Steve Metsch
Any Bridgeview resident with clutter to clear will be busy Friday night, May 10.
That’s when they will be putting all kinds of things on the parkway as the village prepares for its annual spring cleanup day set for Saturday, May 11.
All items must be at the curb by 6 a.m. Saturday.
It’s a chance for residents to clean out their garages, basements and houses in general, Trustee Gary Lewis said after the May 1 village board meeting.
Bridgeview offers the cleanup twice a year.
Lewis laughed when he asked what’s the craziest thing he’s seen.
“A load of bricks,” he said. “There’s a lot of landscaping items, too.”
Old TV sets, computers and sound systems can be put on the curb. Refrigerators and freezers must be drained. It’s a good idea to remove or seal their doors.
All non-bulk items must be bagged or boxed.
Best of all, it’s free.
Village residents need not buy any special stickers for the event. They just place items along the curb where they usually have their garbage cans, Lewis said.
You can bet quite a few scavengers will be driving up and down village streets Friday night and Saturday morning, looking for items they can either re-purpose or reimburse for money like selling scrap metal.
“They start the night before,” Lewis said. “It’s amazing the amount of stuff that’s out there.”
Trustee Patricia Higginson agreed, adding: “Where do they have all those things?”
Trustee Claudette Struzik called the event “a giant pickup for the whole village.”
“You can put (almost) anything you want out there,” she added.
Gasoline, other flammables and car batteries are not allowed. Old cans of paint must be filled with kitty litter or sand to soak up the paint, Higginson said.
“(If you don’t), when you compress it, it will run down the street. It’s a mess,” Lewis said.
Gas-powered devices, like old lawnmowers, must have their tanks drained of gas and oil before they are put by the curb, Lewis said.
For more information, visit the village hall or call 708-594-2525, ext. 3.