A warm Saturday afternoon at the local high schools in St. Landry Parish included teenagers, boxes of snacks, and empty trash bags waiting to be filled for the annual Trash Bash Day. More than 900 students gathered early Saturday morning to pick up candy wrappers, used tires and everything in between.  The annual trash bash day started out in 1997 as part of the Great American Cleanup Campaign, and has become a way for area schools to help spruce up the city ahead of the St. Landry Parish cleanest city contest.

The students started the clean-up at respective routes around their schools, and then came together at Donald Gardner Stadium where each school was given a plaque in honor of their participation. The cleanup is meant to show kids what the community can look like when trash is disposed of in the correct way.