Leaf Day November 5

A few weeks ago we gave some tips about preparing for winter. Now we’ve had our first snowfall. (Told ya!) We hope you came through yesterday’s blizzard OK – we could almost see some snow on the grass! Continuing with the theme of having a good ride through the change of seasons, we will have our annual leaf collection day on Saturday, November 5 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. 

[Edit, November 4: This part is postponed because of snow. Saturday remains the same.]  A week from today, on Friday November 4, we will have some preparatory activity for the Saturday Leaf Day. Groups of eager young volunteers from Denver Christian Middle School will be raking leaves for the 40-some homes of seniors or disabled neighbors in Southern Gables that have signed up with us to have that done. The leaves from all that raking will be collected in two phases. First, on that same day Friday the 4th, a truck from Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms will be picking up the bagged leaves from many of those homes. Chatfield will use the leaves for over-winter mulch and then they will compost them to use for soil amendment in the next cycle of nature. Then on Saturday, our own Ken Fischer will be piloting his big ol’ dump truck around Southern Gables with other volunteers, picking up the leaves from the rest of those homes that the young volunteers have worked.

That Saturday will be a busy day. That’s the day when YOU, our Southern Gables neighbors, are invited to bring your leaves to the Green Gables Elementary School parking lot. Our receiving bins (dumpsters) this year are being sponsored by Lisa Huntington-Kinn of Your Castle Real Estate. The leaves will be taken to be composted, rather than being wasted in the dump where they would take up valuable space and contribute to long-term pollution. This event is for our Southern Gables neighborhood; even with some being used by Chatfield, we can’t take everybody’s leaves from all over. (We found that out in spades last year, having to turn people away.)

If people from outside our neighborhood come and really want to use the service, which is FREE for you, they will be able to do so at a cost of $20.

Are you in Southern Gables, by the way? Our Southern Gables Neighborhood Association covers the area from Garrison to Wadsworth, and Jewell to Morrison Road. When we say “Southern Gables” we really mean “Southern Gables and Valley View.” Yes we do love you, Valley View!

So then… just between us, OK? Leaf Drop on Saturday, November 5. And if you see the young volunteers working on Friday, wave and shout out a thank-you for their service. They’re such great kids!