Rain or shine, Spruce Up Winona, took place Friday, April 18, and nothing stopped its enthusiasts from tidying up the town.
Spruce Up Winona started three years ago when Tammy Swenson Lepper, a communication studies professor at Winona State University, had a vision of helping not only the students and individuals but also the community as a whole.
Spruce Up Winona originated from this idea and is now hosted by Winona State, Saint Mary’s University and Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical College. It is a volunteer-based project that does more than “just a little sprucing.”
“It is not just people of the community and students. Groups like Big Brother and Big Sister help, and those from the elderly network and a lot of others come out and help,” senior Shannon Schaefer said. “It is definitely not just cleaning up the community, [especially with the floods last year. Things such as] sheet rocking and moving leftover [debris] was a major part this year.”
Other organizations, such as Adopt-a-Highway, participated to ensure Winona’s highways were cleaned.
In the past two years, over 500 people with a wide range of skill levels, talents and crafts volunteered their time to help spruce up Winona. This year was no different. The turnout was as high as ever despite the rain.
This year’s festivities started at 1 p.m. and ended at 5 p.m. A celebration was hosted at Bark Lodge from 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., so volunteers could get together to celebrate their efforts.
“Goals for this year, following theme with the Sesquicentennial, was to have 150 groups of clubs, organizations, classes or other, join,” said Lindsay Kanable, a junior from Winona State.
Despite advertisements, press releases and other awareness raising events, this goal was not met, but hopes are high that it will be met in following years.
Along with Earth Day and Spruce Up Winona there is a go green kick going around Winona and other cities.
Placing recycling bins next to trash cans, turning off desk light switches before going to class and not wasting water by taking shorter showers add up to make a positive impact on the environment.

Questions or comments?
Contact Stephanie at
SVetter06@winona.edu