Annual Sparkle Days Scheduled to Spruce Up Gatlinburg

GATLINBURG - City residents and business owners will once again have a chance to clean up their acts on the eve of the upcoming tourist season. Sparkle Days ’07 - this year’s version of the City’s annual rite of spring – have been scheduled for March 19 to 30. The format for the highly successful 27-year-old program remains essentially unchanged from recent years. During Sparkle Days, the City Sanitation Department will pick up, free of charge, items not normally included in garbage collection. Scrap metal, old appliances, brush and even junked vehicles will be accepted for disposal, and should simply be placed next to a City street for pickup, according to Sanitation Head Larry Henderson. However, there are some very important restrictions, Henderson said. “We will not pick up debris from remodeling, demolition projects, tires or old paint. This type of debris must be disposed of by other means.” As usual, the first week of Sparkle Days (March 19 through 23) will be set aside for collection of commercial debris. Residential collection will take place March 26 to 30. Anyone interested in scheduling a pick-up time should call the Sanitation Department at 436-5959. Also, the Gatlinburg Recreation Department is once again encouraging neighborhood residents to join together in large pick-up groups. Interested parties can pick up a supply of large garbage bags through the department, whose staff will happily snag them from City roadsides for disposal. For more information on pick-up groups, call the Community Center at 436-4990. For further Sparkle Day information, call the Gatlinburg Sanitation Department at 436-5959.