After writing my last article, I started thinking about how people in small towns stay in touch other than online or through scheduled meetings.
If there is a general store, hardware store or grocery in town, these are traditional spots where customers may enjoy long “catching-up-on-things” chats. All of Wilton’s last general merchandise, hardware and grocery stores no longer exist, but there is one place that has been central to life in Wilton for 45 years and counting.
It’s probably not the first spot you’d think of for gathering town information, for socialization or “shopping” for useful goods. It may not be high on your list of places to run into old friends and meet new ones, yet this is what usually happens at each visit. It has also become a central place to post notices or hand out campaign flyers. It’s somewhere you buy nothing, yet help Wilton economically in spite of only occasionally handing over cash, check or a credit card. This place is the Wilton Recycling Center.
I met with Manager Carol Burgess and Assistant Manager Bruce Guay a few days ago around a table in their office. Bruce was brought onto the team of workers at the center in 1999 by his father, Maurice, when he was manager. Given his long history working at the center and as a customer, Carol let Bruce be the first to speak. He began, “I remember when this place was just a landfill. Most of it was far to the east of where our buildings are now. There were huge mountains of bottles and scrap metal on the ground. We just threw other things in a hole in 1964/65. There were no buildings at first. But in 1978, the town pulled a permit for a recycling center and it opened in 1980.”
When I asked him what he liked about the job, he said, “I like people and especially their dogs. It’s nice to get to know the people who come here. It’s a job where everyone who comes here and works here ends up working for the same goals,” meaning both the environment and the welfare of Wilton.
He then pointed out a box of cookies on the table, saying, “Some people who visit have a habit of leaving a little something extra for us. We always like that. In exchange, we always have treats for kids on Halloween and treats for dogs anytime. And one thing more, the nicest part about having been here so long is that some of the people who come now are the kids of people I met when I started working here.”
Bruce and Carol then showed me some old photos of the piles of scrap metal and bottles and the buildings as they changed over time. It was clear how much work has gone into altering the land from a “dump” to a recycling center. They both added, “The town has been great about getting things done. People realized that landfills are hazards to people’s health. When there was an option for change, they took it. No one wanted a landfill in Wilton, especially on the river.”
They continued, one by one, “There’ve been lots of changes over the years. Each manager added something new of their own to the center. Things used to be put in trailers and then they had to be taken out and bailed by hand. Now they have two bailers that make things easier.”
The incinerator closed in 2009 after the state said they had to put an impossibly expensive scrubber in to continue. Now the trash is put into a compactor and shipped out of town to incinerators in either Bow or Berlin.
Bruce added, “One of our skid steer loaders smoked something awful. When our select board visited the center and saw and smelled this, it wasn’t soon after they replaced the old machine. They wanted our environment to be safer and better for the employees. Maintenance is important to keep costs down and the center running. People should know that recycling isn’t just good for the environment, it also helps the town financially.”
Bruce’s final comment before handing the stage over to Carol was, “I don’t want to retire from this ‘retirement’ activity. I can come here and relax while talking to and helping people. I get paid to do something I enjoy and makes life interesting.”
Before Carol took over as manager, she had worked for years in Greenfield running that facility. When this job opened up, she brought in her resume and was hired. When I asked her how it was to make that change, she replied, “It was a big step moving from one town to serving five, but it’s good.”
What’s apparent is that there is now a woman’s touch at the center. It’s clean and well organized. She commented, “I love this job! I wanted to make it a pleasant experience so more people will want to come even though doing so may be unpleasant to some. People are happier when visiting and that means the workers receive more respect and are not thought of as just ‘garbage or trashmen.’”
They’ve also made the experience more equitable with a way to weigh the trash that needs to go into the dumpster. With new scales for weighing truckloads, no one needs to guess how much it will cost. It’s a flat 10 cents per pound. The only other issue is that the scale is not large enough to weigh both a truck and trailer at the same time so the trailer must be detached, making it more difficult for the customers, but as she explained, “This is how we have to do it to meet regulations.”
She added, “You need to keep helping people understand how to do things and why they are done this way, but I don’t mind their questions. It shows they care. There’s lots more to do, especially on the outside as well as working on some of our processes. One of the things I’m proud about is that we finally got the entire driveway and back pad paved. It’s made a huge difference in access and cleanliness.”
There are a few things both Carol and Bruce felt important to emphasize. One is the importance of the others who work at the Recycling Center, including the two other full-time employees, Tom Latour, who is the scale operator, and Bruce Hadley, who does the bailing and is general all-around help; plus the three part-time workers: Greg Porter, Harley Porter and Sally Ann Perez.
Another is the importance of not dumping lithium batteries into the trash. If they are in the trash, they can catch fire and could possibly burn down the facility. They can be taken to Staples, Home Depot or Lowe’s.
People should know that the more things are separated, the more money the town gets for them. This is why so much of the plastic and the different bins for types of glass, tin and steel are separated. It makes it difficult when an item is placed in the wrong bin.
Finally, the Still Good Shed needs many more volunteers. It is run only by volunteers who must be there to keep it running. This takes people willing to give up a bit of time to help out. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, weather permitting and if there are volunteers available to oversee it. To volunteer contact: Gail Walleston at gwalleston@yahoo.com or call 603-261-6640.
