Our annual Friends of the Park Day was held on April 25. It was again a great success despite the cloudy, damp weather. This is a great community event each spring that renews our park system for the coming summer season.

This event brought out more than 340 volunteers including the SEMO Horticulture Club, Master Gardeners, several service clubs, Southeast University students, The Missouri Department of Conservation, several city advisory boards, the SEMO Fair Board, local garden clubs, plus other groups and a host of individuals.

There was work done at 18 locations during the day including some locations in addition to the parks. Those included the Shawnee Center Community Garden, Osage Centre, Cape Splash, Jaycee Golf Course, Cape LaCroix Creek/Trail, city hall parking area, Red House Museum and areas of downtown, Red Star and South Cape.

I would like to recognize our 13 sponsors for the event. They were Schnucks, Bi-State Mobile Convenience Stores, SoutheastHEALTH, K103/KZIM River Radio Group, Pepsi, Capaha Bank, First Missouri State Bank, First Community State Bank, Bank of Missouri, Drury Southwest, Missouri Department of Conservation, Plants Plus and CS Printing.

We have a tremendous asset in our Parks System. The department has an outstanding and dedicated staff led by Julia Thompson, parks and recreation director; and Brock Davis, parks division manager. My personal thanks to both of them and the entire parks division team for their work and dedication. They do a great job in maintaining and enhancing our parks and trails. All of the 23 parks and over four miles of walking/biking trails are for citizens and visitors.

We all need to take ownership of our parks on a year-round basis. All who use our parks should and must pick up litter and trash after using any area of the park. Also, if you see any trash or a weed in a garden near where you are, I would suggest that you pick it up, pull it or whatever is appropriate to maintain and improve the area.

I also would mention a new and active committee that relates to parks and is an important part of our "Keep Cape Beautiful" effort. That is our Beautification Committee led by Councilwoman Loretta Schneider. They have been very active in promoting beautification and assessing litter control throughout our city in the past year. I applaud them and thank them for their efforts.

I would suggest that our arterial and collector streets are really an extension of our parks. The rights of way need to be properly maintained and litter kept under control by our city staff, our citizens and visitors as part of a total team effort.

Protecting and enhancing these city assets will continue to improve the quality of life in this great city we all call home.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.