Earth Day cleanup efforts brought volunteers out across New Glarus on Saturday, with organized projects and individual acts of cleanup helping freshen up the community after winter. It was a chilly but beautiful sunny day, the kind of spring weather that still called for jackets in the morning but offered plenty of encouragement to get outside and get something done.

In the village, New Glarus Cares held its annual Earth Day cleanup, drawing people together for a morning of picking up litter and tidying public areas. The effort marked the fourth year New Glarus Cares has organized the event. Volunteers met on the lawn by the Sugar River Bicycle Trail between Fat Cat Coffee Works and 6th Avenue before heading out to help in and around the village. Brenda’s Blumenladen and Silver Paddles supported the event and provided encouragement and freebies for those who took part.