Community Service Project
Ted K. Bilich (CT '84)

Approximately 20 participants in the Truman Scholar Association’s 2009 National Conference scoured the grass of Hains Point in East Potomac Park in southeast Washington D.C., in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 21st, cleaning up trash as part of a service day associated with the conference.

Hains Point is located near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, and is defined by the Potomac on one side and the Washington Channel (which receives outflow from the Tidal Basin) on the other. It is a popular park with locals who come to fish, run, bike, and enjoy the view across the rivers to Northern Virginia and Maryland. Because of its location and popularity, the park gets more than its fair share of trash – both from overflow of the rivers and Tidal Basin at high tides and from careless visitors.

The Truman Scholars National Conference Steering Committee arranged to have Truman volunteers assist the National Park Service in a two-hour clean-up project. The participants ranged from the original Truman class of 1977 through the current class of 2009, from as far away as Texas and New Mexico, and the friendly conversation covered a wide variety of topics while people pitched in, working together in informal groups. The group also included at least one “future Truman Scholar” – my son Vidal, a five-year-old who visits the park regularly, and who thoroughly enjoyed picking through trash that he’s usually dissuaded from even approaching. I got a chance to connect with classmate Jim Slaughter (NC ‘84), and we compared notes about our community and political involvement. My son and I, moreover, were excited to meet and talk to Jeff McLean (WI '03), who is learning to fly F/A-18 fighter aircraft for the Navy and will soon be heading out on an aircraft carrier. Needless to say, fighter aircraft dominated my morning's conversation.

Although the weather threatened the entire time, and although most participating scholars did not have gloves to protect themselves from trash that ranged from mundane to unmentionable, the team filled at least ten trash bags that morning. By the end of the event, the grass in the team’s work area was noticeably tidier, participants knew that they were leaving Washington cleaner than when they arrived, and all involved had proven once again that Truman scholars are always willing to get their hands dirty.