10/16/97
Contact: Ed Newman, 614/593-0231,
enewman1@ohiou.edu
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University is offering community and campus organizations an environmentally friendly way of disposing of the floats they enter in Saturday's Homecoming parade.
Ed Newman, the university's recycling and waste manager, came up with the idea of a float recycling service last year to combat the problem of improperly disposed of floats. In past years, some floats have been abandoned in city alleys or rural roads, left near businesses' dumpsters or wound up in the Hocking River, he said. Seven campus groups took advantage of last fall's recycling effort, and now Newman is extending the offer to community entrants as well.
Organizations with floats can bring them to the Peden Stadium parking lot (on Richland Avenue) between 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. There they will be dismantled and any reusable materials will be salvaged.
About 25 campus and community floats are expected for this Saturday's parade, which begins at 10 a.m. at Morris Avenue and East State Street.
"There's little to no actual trash in them if they're taken apart," Newman said of the floats. Materials are reused on campus or given to ReUse Industries, a non-profit group near Albany.
Newman, who believes Ohio University's float recycling effort may be the only one of its kind anywhere, said the materials can be useful on campus. Chicken wire in the floats has been used in the botanical gardens on West State Street and wood has been burned in the kilns used by School of Art students. Much of the plywood from last year's floats was used to make signs directing students to recycling options at the end of the school year, which Newman called the university's " biggest solid waste event of the year."
Other than the parade, Saturday's Homecoming highlights include the Big Top Extravaganza at the riverfront from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the Bobcat vs. Bowling Green football game at Peden Stadium at 2 p.m.; and a concert featuring blues greats Leon Redbone and John Hammond at Grover Center at 8 p.m. The theme of this weekend's celebration, "Athens -- 200 Years: A Look Back," is intended to illustrate the strong ties between Ohio University and the community as Athens celebrates its bicentennial.
Football tickets are available by calling 614-593-1300 or 800-575-CATS, and concert tickets can be purchased by calling 614-593-1780 or visiting the Haning Hall box office.