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ye 14 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 18, 1985 Call them anything, but call them fast-everyone, that is, but John B Last summer, the Port Perry Star ran a series of articles in which Star writers spent time work- ing at different jobs such as bartender, donut maker and carpenter. The series proved popular with our readers, and was a lot of fun for Star editor John B. McClelland and reporter Cathy Robb. So we've decided to get it going again this summer. l.ast week, editor McClelland spent a mor- ning 'working the trucks' with Edgar Brown and his crew. They are the guys who collect the garbage in much of the Township, and over the past five years, kFdgar and his gang have earned a reputation for quick and thorough garbage collection. by John B. McClelland Call them gar- bagemen, trash collec- tors, even sanitary engineers. You can call Edgar Brown, his sons Dave and Ron, and employee Philip Mid- dleton just aboul anything you like But also, when it comes to picking up tons of gar- bage every day in Scugog Township, you can call them fast. I found that out last Thursday morning when I joined Edgar and Dave on the big red Ford gar- bage truck for the run through Port Perry and parts of Prince Albert With Dave behind the wheel, Edgar and myself tossed garbage bags around all morning, along with various other kinds of trash people wanted to get rnd of -- like bundles of newspapers, bushes, a chesterfield, an old mattress and numerous empty paint cans. When | say Edgar likes to work fast, I'm not kid- ding. The guy just doesn't stop, and it's fair to say that on an average working day, he hefts several tons of garbage into the back of the truck. "Keeps you in pretty good shape," he said with a smile as we were about half way through the run, and my arms and shoulders were star- ting to tell me I was us- ing muscles that don't get much of a work-out sitting behind a typewriter. Even though the mor- ning was exceptionally cool for mid-June, I was working up a pretty good sweat jumping on and off the truck, grabbing the green bags, dumping the cans of assorted trash and struggling at times with bundles of un-tied newspaper Edgar, a trim, wiry, grey-haired man in his mid-fifties wasn't even puffing as he went about his job quickly and efficiently. He's had the garbage collection contract with the Township for the past five years, and he has almost 5,000 stops, or pick-ups to make each week. Actually, Thursday is one of his 'easier days," especially when com- pared to Mondays when the two crews start in View Lake early in the morning and work west through the cottage areas around Caesarea, over to Scugog Island and into Port Perry. It's a long day and the crews don't even stop for din- ner. Often, they don't finish the work on Mon- . days until 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. : But on Thursday, we finished up just before noon hour, and that in- cluded two trips to the dump to unload about six tons of packed garbage in the back of the truck. It's not easy to talk to somebody when you're jumping on and off the back of the truck, grab- bing bags of trash at the foot of every driveway, Ea (ok 4 ye tt ¥ 4 i { Port Perry Star editor John B. McClelland found out all about the garbage in Scugog Township (the real stuff) last week when he joined Edgar Brown and crew for a morning's work on the garbage trucks. John may be hamming it up for this photo but the next day, he was reaching for the AS3S. but I was curious to find out some of the more unusual junk Edgar has found in his line of work. "You'c be surprised what people throw away, said Edgar. "TV sets, stereos, fridges and stoves, sofas, chairs, car parts of all kinds, in- cluding the batteries and tires." There isn't too much that Edgar won't pick up, but he draws the line at large pieces of wood and metal, dead animals and car parts, and hot ashes. He recalls one rural home where he found 15 dead rabbits waiting to be picked up. He refused because the Health Department won't allow dead animals in the land- fill site. Or the several pails filled right to the top with "dog stuff; or the time somebody left a pail fill- ed with hot ashes from a wood stove. That turned out to be a real mess as the ashes were tossed in- to the bucket and caught fire inside the truck. Edgar says he could hear the tins popping from the heat. He had to dump half a load of burning trash right on the road, and after the fire department gave it all a thorough soaking, he was faced with the messy job of shovelling it all back in- to the truck. "That took us about half the day,' he recalls with a grin. His contract with th Township stipulates he only has to pick up five bags at each house and ten bags at each com- mercial stop. If there are six or seven, he refuses to leave them sitting beside the road, but says he once had to draw the line at 20 bags of leaves. He left a few and told the homeowner he'd take the rest the following week Some people might be curious about what kind of garbage other people are throwing away. Edgar never looks at the junk He doesn't have the time. To him, it's all gar- bage and the quicker he can get it in the back of the truck and to the dump, the quicker his (Turn to page 18) About twice each day, the two trucks empty the load of trash at the Scugog dump, and it all adds up to more than 20 tons, four days each week. Some of the stuff people throw away is amazing. (See story) Edgar Brown (right) and his crew who Ron and employee Phil Middleton. The collect the trash in much of Scugog Township. With Edgar are sons David and crews sometimes work through lunch hour to get the trash in. (See story for details. et Rd rain PEEL TS -- Cn I NT Lp A SITS T_T a e ld