Northwood News ♦ October 2006

Progress on Poopers in the Park

By Fiona Morrissey

When the Anti-Poop Action Group got started at the end of April this year, conditions in the park had reached an all-time low.  Large hoards of soccer players and their fans would descend on our little park every Sunday from early in the morning till dusk.  After they left, the perimeter of the field would be littered with bottles and cans and discarded scraps of food, including chicken bones for our dogs to choke on.  And, of course, there would be poop and plenty of it, scattered around the woods and bushes.

The installation of a portapotty in mid-May seemed to improve the situation until the portapotty got into such a disgusting condition that nobody wanted to use it.  After I informed the county of this, the portypotty was cleaned once a week.

Through June and July, I and my accomplice, Marion, continued to monitor the park on Sundays to see if the portypotty was being.  And it was.  On June 4th, 15 people used the facilities in one half-hour period.  However, there were still those who preferred to perform their natural functions al fresco.  Marion and I did our best to track them down, but quite often when the police arrived, the poopers would have disappeared.

On June 11th, the two of us, along with neighbors Bruce, Rod, and Linda, distributed anti-poop notices in Spanish.  At this stage, fewer potential poopers were showing up, thanks to the World Cup.

The following Sunday it rained almost nonstop.  But, would you believe it, there were still soccer games going on between downpours.  You can only admire such dedication.  The field, of course, was in a woeful state.  A herd of stampeding buffalo couldn’t have done a better job of mashing it up.

On Tuesday July 18th, I met with the police and two officials from the Department of Parks and Planning — Ginnie Moxley and Mark Allen.  Ginnie and Mark told me that, as a long-term solution, they would try to get the field permitted, to keep track of those who were abusing it.  (The police would then have the authority to remove offenders.  At present, they can do nothing except politely hand out citations.)  Ginnie and Mark also promised to remove the goalposts a.s.a.p.

A week later the posts were down and, since that happy event, Sundays in the park have improved dramatically.  The soccer players have gone elsewhere and we’ve had seven glorious litter-free, poop-free weekends in a row.

Long may this continue!  But the so-called “shortage” of soccer fields in Montgomery County could mean that the goalposts may reappear at any time.  Should this occur, we will be ready.  Poopers beware!   ■