I Was A Patches Pal

Growing up in the Seattle area, I was a Patches Pal. There was this tv clown, J.P. Patches who lived in the City Dump. He had some other buddies, including Gertrude and others I don't remember. There is an upcoming event to launch the kickoff of a community-wide drive to create a J.P. Patches statue. Land was donated in the Fremont area, next to the infamous statue of people waiting for the bus. Even the Seattle Mayor is getting involved as a former Patches Pal. The setting of the City Dump may explain my ongoing fascination with trash and dumps (though more politically correct now to call them landfills.)
I was on the show one time when in 2nd or 3rd grade, as I sold alot of Camp Fire Girl mints.That was back in the days when the mint sales were competitive -- prizes for who sold the most. I had sold the second largest amount in my group and got a hug from J.P. in recognition. I really did sell them door-to-door; in those days parents did not take them to work to sell them to co-workers. Go to www.jppatches.com.
Another Seattle kids tv celebrity was Stan Boreson, famous for his side-kick -- Nomo, a beagle. He was very gentle and would sing all kinds of songs on his show.
Getting back to trash -- I read that "Phoenix residents throw away a lot more than most Americans. Each day, every one of the city's nearly 1.5 million residents sends 4.25 pounds of junk to the landfill, 73 percent more than the average American. The reason: year-round yard waste and the extra trash generated by winter visitors. As Phoenix grows, the costs of disposing of all that trash do, too."
As the article in the paper pointed out, we are not running out of space at the landfill yet, but we must try to reduce the amount of trash. That is part of my daily mission. If only everyone felt the same way I do......