FERRIDAY — It’s time to take pride in the south side.

And to do that, a group of Ferriday residents — including two aldermen — will meet Tuesday to have an organizational meeting for a garden club based in the south end of Ferriday.

Alderman Elijah “Steppers” Banks said the organizational meeting for the Southside Garden Club would be 6 p.m. Tuesday at Ferriday Town Hall.

The goal is simple — unite the people who live in the south side of town to help keep it clean. Alderman Johnnie Brown said several residents in the area have already dedicated themselves to the project.

“We are looking to address the issue of weed control, vacant lots, dilapidated housing and all of those things,” Brown said. “We are looking to address the cleanliness of the south side of Ferriday.”

While the town has a street crew that cleans and cuts grass in vacant lots in ditches, Brown said it can sometimes be a matter of weeks between visits to any given spot by town crews.

That’s why he would like to see residents take initiative and help take care of their neighborhoods.

“They need to not only cut the lots or ditches, but to groom it,” Brown said. “Sometimes they will cut it and make the situation worse by just cutting at it. If you groom the lot it will be easier to maintain it.”

Brown also said the group will go to the Ferriday Garden Club, which recently spearheaded the effort to win the cleanest city competition, and ask them for help and advice.

Banks said once the group is formed it might be incorporated as a non-profit organization, but that the important thing is to get it organized.

“We are going to go into the neighborhoods and try to recruit three or four people per block — or at least per street — and try to have a weekly thing cutting grass and picking up litter,” he said.

“We want Ferriday to be a clean environment.”