The single biggest event in Selma is quickly approaching and with it comes thousands of visitors.

Visitors attending the Bridge Crossing Jubilee will eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels and walk our streets, judging our city with every step.

City government has taken an important first step in ensuring that their first impression is a good one by organizing a city-wide cleanup day.

On Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., five trucks will travel Selma, picking up trash.

Mayor George Evans said the pick-up day is meant to remove any left over trash from the holiday season.

Providing additional days for trash pick-up is helpful and certainly needed, as water bottles and other items litter the streets, but cleaning up individual residences isn’t the only way to ensure our city is in pristine condition for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.

Simply picking up an empty bag of potato chips and tossing it in a trash can is an easy way to make a small dent in our litter problem. Stopping before you toss a burnt cigarette onto the sidewalk is another way to prevent litter from piling up.

On Saturday, take the time to clean up the leaves and fallen branches in your yard. It’s certainly not the same as a plastic bottle or bag of chips, but it helps to improve the overall look of your yard. Also, check your street for loose trash.

When thousands of travelers descend upon our city for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, it’s important that we put our best foot forward. One of the most important ways is to clean up our streets.