Amidst recent complaints from parents, park officials said the excessive littering left at the Wardell Leach Recreational Complex is unacceptable.
And director Henry Campbell said it’s the parents who allow their children to litter at the local facility.
“They are responsible for this,” Campbell said, picking up trash Tuesday morning. “I have talked to them about this. We need to start fining $100 for people who are allowing this to happen.”
Baseball and softball games were held Monday afternoon at the complex. Campbell said the softball side of the facility is clean.
But the portion of the complex dedicated to the boys baseball fields are another story.
“This is strictly the 9, 10 and 11-year-old boys,” Campbell added. “The girls fields are nothing like this.”
The Yazoo Herald visited the complex Tuesday morning when Campbell and his work crew discovered the mess left behind after Monday’s games.
Sport drink bottles littered the dugout areas even though empty trash cans were situated inside. Paper scraps were littered throughout the complex. Leftover food plates were left sitting on the bleachers, attracting several birds.
Soda cans were also left inside the fields.
One trash can near the boys fields was full. But other nearby trash cans remained halfway empty.
“There is nothing inside those cans,” Campbell said, pointing to two empty cans nestled among litter. “There is food left out everywhere. One coach even left his box with a jersey and hat out here.”
Campbell said he understands some of the frustrations parents have voiced surrounding the local parks. But the litter, he said, is unacceptable.
“I have been to other facilities, and the patrons don’t litter like this,” he said. “This will take us two to three hours to clean up. It’s keeping us from more important duties. We have games that are going to be held on other fields that we need to tend to. But we are out here longer than we need to be because of this trash.”
Campbell said he plans to bring four more trash cans to the complex.
“This has to stop,” Campbell said, returning to his two workers painting the fields.
