On a chilly spring morning in North Dallas, almost 70 community volunteers arrived along Maham Road, just south of Spring Valley Road, with work gloves and boots to take part in the 13th annual Cottonwood Park Clean-Up.

The April 8 turnout was one of the largest in the history of the event, with volunteers from local schools, the Dallas Parks Department, nonprofit organizations including Neighborhood Service Council and neighborhood associations such as Richardson Area North Dallas Coalition Organization.

Texas Instruments employees, many whom work within walking distance of the park, and family members comprised the larges contingent, almost two-thirds of the volunteers.

Volunteers cleared debris in and around the creek bed, trimmed trees, cleared away underbrush and vines, removed graffiti from plaques and signs, redistributed cedar chips around the swing set and picked up trash throughout the park. Still, the clean-up was completed in record time, just less then two hours.

While volunteers enjoyed an early lunch, J.P. Suplita, TI environmental specialist and event coordinator, spoke about the importance of the annual cleanup.

“We love this park and what is means to the residents,” he said. “People are proud to have this park in their neighborhood, and we’re proud to make this event happen.”

Cottonwood Park is a very different place today than it was just 13 years ago.

In 1993, it was nestled within a troubled community plagued with poverty, violence, robbery, youth gangs, drugs and crime-related deaths, where no fewer than 26 languages were spoken. The dense vegetation, trash and criminal activity that took place in the park made it an unsafe area for children to play.

“People were scared to death,” said Janis Dumas, Neighborhood Service Council, director, a local nonprofit organization that provides afterschool and educational programs for area students and their families. The group discovered the park while surveying the area for a safe place to hold out-door programs and activities.

“We needed to make the park safe for kids and then open it up to the community for everyone to enjoy,” Dumas said.

In 1994, TI and the service council, joined by other community and government organizations, cleaned up the park and established the Cottonwood Creek Environmental Task Group. TI facilitated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, and landscape architects were hired to design an environmental nature trail along the creek bank.

Oliver Axtell, area resident and service council, board member, participated in the first cleanups and remembered the extensive work needed in the early 90s to restore the park.

“We retrieved worn-out sofas, mattresses and shopping carts from the banks and from the creek itself,” he said. “There was the roar of chain saws as we cut brush along the creek. All of the cuttings had to be hauled up the banks and loaded into city of Dallas trucks.”