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George Smith, of Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, adds another tire to the pile near the old St. John Vianney church on Allen Street during Pittsburgh's eighth annual Garbage Olympics on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. More than 50 neighborhoods participated in the competition meant to help clean-up city streets. Allentown ultimately placed second in the competition.
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Mt. Oliver takes trashiest title in Pittsburgh's 8th Garbage Olympics

Megan Guza/Post-Gazette

Mt. Oliver takes trashiest title in Pittsburgh's 8th Garbage Olympics

There were wood scraps and pallets, a lamp shaped like a Christmastime nutcracker, a certificate celebrating the recipient’s “1-year accident free” driving record, and tires — lots and lots of tires.

And that was just what volunteers picked up from the streets of Allentown on Saturday morning.

When all was said and done, the neighborhood’s volunteers had collected 49 bags of trash, 91 tires, 21 television sets and 522 bulk-trash items. They also claimed the city Garbage Olympics’ “strangest find” prize: a tall, electric candle shaped like a skinny Santa Claus.

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The Garbage Olympics, in their eighth year, were born out of the three organizers’ dedication to cleaning up their neighborhoods. Renee Robinson, Lena Andrews and Alicia Carberry had for years organized trash pickups in their own neighborhoods. In 2017, they turned it into a competition.

“I didn’t really have a vision,” Ms. Robinson said Saturday morning along Hillcrest Street in Garfield. “It was just an idea. Pittsburgh is a competitive city, and people love their neighborhoods.”

Only five neighborhoods participated in that inaugural competition. More than 50 neighborhoods and a few suburbs participated on Saturday, making it the largest competition yet.

This year’s competition saw nearly 600 volunteers from neighborhoods in each corner of the city, from Brighton Heights and the South Side to Duquesne Heights and Morningside.

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A few blocks off of East Warrington Avenue near the old St. John Vianney church, leaders of the Allentown team tried to take the top trash collection title for a third year in a row.

“It’s really about a lot of different community members coming together,” said Kayla Huerbin, an Allentown Community Development Corp. board member and property manager with the neighborhood-based RE360.

Richard Brewer, who’s lived in Allentown for three years, was riding his bike Saturday morning when he spotted Ms. Huerbin and others picking up trash.

“‘Making the community beautiful,’” he said they told him. He took his bike home and came back to pitch in.

“Service work is what I like to do,” he said.

At the end of the morning, the city’s southern neighborhoods swept the podium: The South Side Flats placed third, Allentown came in second, and Mount Oliver took the top spot with 150 bags of trash, 125 tires, 92 televisions and 250 bulk items.

“I had nothing to do with deciding who wins these awards,” joked Pittsburgh Councilman Bob Charland, who represents all three of the winning neighborhoods.

“I’m really thankful for how many volunteers [came out], how much we were able to pick up today, but it is a recognition that our city needs more help,” he said. “What we’re doing right now — this shouldn’t have to be an event.”

First Published: September 21, 2024, 8:41 p.m.
Updated: September 22, 2024, 2:29 a.m.

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George Smith, of Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, adds another tire to the pile near the old St. John Vianney church on Allen Street during Pittsburgh's eighth annual Garbage Olympics on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. More than 50 neighborhoods participated in the competition meant to help clean-up city streets. Allentown ultimately placed second in the competition.  (Megan Guza/Post-Gazette)
Mary Weidner, left, from Garfield, Victor Barbetti, from East Liberty, and Lauren Pearman, from Bloomfield clean garbage from a hillside and load it into a truck during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Mary Weidner, left, from Garfield, and Victor Barbetti, from East Liberty, clean garbage from a hillside during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Mary Weidner, left, from Garfield, and Victor Barbetti, from East Liberty, clean garbage from a hillside during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Victor Barbetti, from East Liberty, walks some garbage bags up to the collection pile during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Garbage left in a pile by the volunteers for the Department of Public Works to take away during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Lauren Pearman, from Bloomfield, unloads a chair she has collected from a hillside to place in a garbage pile during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Renee Robinson, from Garfield, places garbage bags in a pile during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Shawn Hawkins, from Garfield, moves a tire to a garbage pile during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Shawn Hawkins, from Garfield, moves a tire to a garbage pile during the city’s Garbage Olympics on Saturday Sept. 21, 2024, Garfield.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
Megan Guza/Post-Gazette
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