Mountainside Borough Has Its Own Beautification Crew – And You Probably Didn't Even Know

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ - Mountainside Borough has its own beautification crew and you probably didn't even know. The vegetation across the bridge, the seasonal flower boxes downtown, and the lights on the Borough Hall Christmas tree don't just magically appear yearly – that is Beautiful Mountainside.

The 25-person group formed six years ago when Todd Evans, a long-time resident, started picking up trash on his daily walks. He expanded his radius along Route 22 and decided to recruit his family, loyal town members, and master gardeners to help with his mission.

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“I got the bug too,” Jeffrey Moran, Evans's husband, said. “He slowly started to get a few more people that he became friendly with, and he started to put a few posts on Facebook about, you know, picking up trash and this kind of thing. And he had a few people who he began to get in a group to pick up trash. And as they started to talk about the idea of town beautification.”

With the support from friends and neighbors, Beautiful Mountainside became incorporated and achieved 501(c)(3) status. Councilman Robert W. Messler, a member of the organization, has helped secure assistance from the town council to encourage their various projects.

The organization has three main focuses. The first is keeping the streets clean, picking up garbage around town and along Route 22. The group brings garbage bags, collecting trash as big as car bumpers in the middle of the road. They work collaboratively with the Public Works Department, who picks up the waste they gather.

The second facet of the organization is their fundraising events. They are hosting a Harvest Moon dance in September at the Deserted Village. These events bring awareness to Beautiful Mountainside and encourage volunteers to join, as well as bring in donations for their activities.

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The third and most noticeable change the group has brought to town is the beautification efforts. They planted a new bed of flowers around the flagpole outside Borough Hall, and placed vegetation along the bridge from the library to the pool. They water and maintain the plants all year round but pay special attention during the summer heat.

“We bought these boxes for downtown in front of the businesses there. So we seasonally change the flowers and decorate those for Fourth of July. And then there's some Christmas stuff in there,” Moran said. “So the group has bought a nice array of decorations and, plus we put plantings in there seasonally. We work with local businesses to make sure they look pretty snappy.”

Their upcoming project is a pocket park in the downtown, what they hope to call Mountainside Commons. Working with the town and applying to get grants, Beautiful Mountainside has plans to transform the corner across from Publick House to create more greenspace. They hope to be able to build the common area for the town in the next couple of years.

Beautiful Mountainside’s mission stems from the love they have for their town. Many members have lived in the borough for decades and are dedicated to seeing the place prosper for new youth and devoted residents.

“So it is a little hidden gem of this great town with lovely houses, new people coming into town, raising their families,” Moran said. “And for us, it gives us a great mix of, you know, sort of privacy and nature, which we love, we love walking in the reservation, we love trailside… It really has given me a kind of look back to Norman Rockwell's Small Town America, which I think is fantastic.”

Editor's Note: Holliday Woodard, currently a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in Journalism, is participating in the TAPinto Internship Program. For further information about this program, please reach out to bpeer@tapinto.net.

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