BREMERTON — Bremertonians will gather together on Sept. 16, joined by a single purpose: to beautify Bremerton.

“We live in such a breathtaking city with our water and mountain views around every corner,” said Sarah Eddington of the Bremerton Public Works and Utilities Department, “and we want our community to reflect the same beauty that Mother Nature provides.”

Eddington said the annual “Beautify Bremerton,” a community-building event, has been going on since 2011, though a similar spring clean-up event was held before Beautify Bremerton started.

“We love our city and want to foster a sense of community,” Eddington said. “Just like when your home is clean and organized, you feel better about it — the same can be said about your city.”

Beautify Bremerton has two parts: yard-waste drop off and community outreach.

“Residents can dispose of as much yard waste as they wish,” Eddington said. “It is a wonderful opportunity to get those yards in order before the fall weather sets in.”

The second part has the Public Works crew and volunteers “tackle a few pre-determined locations and ‘beautify’ them.”

“In the past, we have done parks, streets and even helped private residences where the individual is disabled or in some way unable to manage the yard upkeep on their own,” Eddington said.

“The community outreach portion is my favorite part,” she said. “We gather as many groups and volunteers as we can get, then we weed, mow, pick up trash, cut back trees, etc. A Lot of it is vegetation control.”

Consistent volunteers for Beautify Bremerton include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Alaska Credit Union, and the Navy.

“To be honest, some years have a bigger volunteer response than others, but the community always seems appreciative,” Eddington said. “We consistently have people say after the event how wonderful our clean-up area looks. We also have others that say they wished they would have known about it so they could have joined us.

“It would be fantastic to see this program grow.”

For more information or to volunteer, contact Eddington at sarah.eddington@ci.bremerton.wa.us or 360-473-5917.

— Michelle Beahm is online editor for Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.