Mayor Dexter McLendon and City Councilman Jeddo Bell, along with Carol Lee and Magoo Hamilton of the Chamber of Commerce, and Greenville Main Street President Nancy Idland, have been working together to initiate a cleanup campaign for the City of Greenville.

The campaign kicked off Tuesday with the dedication of the city's new street sweeper.

Bell said the idea of a clean-up campaign was brought up about three months ago and McLendon, Bell, Hamilton and Lee met to discuss the initiation of the program.

"We were very concerned about getting the community involved in making Greenville a more beautiful place," Bell said. "We thought this would work since the people in Greenville already have a great deal of pride in our city."

Bell said that the citizens of Greenville are "second to none" and they have done a great job in taking care of their property in Greenville.

He added that the holidays will be a good time to kick off this campaign because people will be more aware of keeping the city beautiful during the holiday season.

The City of Greenville invites all citizens of Greenville, no matter what age, to participate in this campaign to clean up Greenville.

"We want to invite all the schools, businesses, social clubs and civic organizations to just join hands with us and help us make this a success," said Bell.

"We want to rid our city of as much paper and all kind of debris as we possibly can and, as time passes, we plan to step up this campaign but right now, it is in its initial stages. We just solicit the cooperation of all residents here in the city of Greenville," he added.

"With the holiday season here, Greenville will have a lot of visitors," said Lee. "This is just the perfect time to begin working to keep the city looking clean and green.'"

"It is just so important for us to appreciate the natural beauty of our surroundings and do all that we can do to keep it beautiful," said Idland. "We are so excited to have this new street sweeper to keep our curbs clean. We just want to encourage everyone to take a walk around their own yards everyday to help in this effort."

Bell said that the people involved in jump-starting the campaign will continue to heighten awareness for the campaign and get others involved in the cleanup.

"We want to thank all those persons who have been involved up to this point and we want to thank the citizens of Greenville in advance for cooperating with this effort," Bell added.

Although Greenville is already a very beautiful place and has been named the best small town in the United States by ePodunck.com, citizens are now encouraged to make a special effort to keep the city clean.