Troy’s Anti-Litter Committee will preface their district cleanups Wednesday with a special project in preparation for next week’s Homecoming.

“This will be a special project cleanup before we start back our regular district cleanups,” said Anti-Litter Committee Coordinator Meredith McClendon. “We are going to clean up the parade route because we’re going to have so many people in town for Troy University’s Homecoming.”

On Wednesday, residents of Troy are encouraged to meet at 9 a.m. at the downtown square to begin cleaning up the city. The cleanup will last until noon.

McClendon said all local residents are invited to join in beautifying the city, and a person will be stationed at the Gazebo for those who aren’t able to meet at 9.

Public Works Director Vaughn Daniels and Grounds Superintendent Raymond Sexton said the cleanup will span the entire parade route, going through Academy Street, Madison Street, University Avenue to St. Paul Street and all in between.

“We’ll hit all the main arteries between the university and downtown,” Sexton said.

Daniels said if any groups wish to do help with the cleanup, they can be assigned a specific area to clean.

While the Anti-Litter Committee is sponsoring the cleanup, they said they don’t want to be the only ones involved.

“If we have enough people, it shouldn’t take very long,” Daniels said.

Since Homecoming will still be 10 days out after the cleanup, Sexton said the city workers will continue to pick up trash throughout the week.

After this cleanup, the committee will begin cleaning each of the five districts within the city of Troy.

McClendon said they will tackle one district per month, and the first district cleanup will be held in November.