WOODVILLE &045; In conjunction with Keep America Beautiful’s yearly Great American Cleanup campaign, local officials are asking volunteers to help pick up litter on Saturday, May 17.

Both Wilkinson County and the Town of Woodville are supporting the effort by supplying garbage bags and a central location for volunteers to leave the garbage they collect.

&uot;We are hoping this will give people an incentive to keep their communities clean year-round,&uot; said County Purchasing Clerk Consandra J. Christmas, who is coordinating the county’s effort.

Christmas said a limited supply of trash bags for volunteers are available at the courthouse and urged people interested in helping to contact her office or their area supervisors.

&uot;Cleaning up the area helps improve our image among state officials who visit here, and that is very important for us,&uot; Christmas said.

Fifth District Supervisor W. G. Johnson said the county will park a dump truck at the water tower in Woodville on May 17 for volunteers to deposit their litter collections.

But Johnson stressed that picking up garbage on roadsides is not just a once-a-year job for the county.

&uot;We have a county-wide truck picking up trash on roadsides ahead of our mowers every day now. A county employee supervises four inmates from the Community Work Center in Woodville, picking up litter on our roads Monday through Friday,&uot; he said.

The crew is working along paved roads in the county now, and will start picking up trash on gravel roads next.

&uot;It ought to help the appearance of the county,&uot; Johnson said.

The Town of Woodville is also asking volunteers to gather at Town Hall at 8 a.m. May 17.

&uot;We will walk the streets and pick up trash that morning, and we will serve lunch to the volunteers at noon,&uot; said Alderman Gene Loftin, adding that the meal will be provided by the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.