Dozens of volunteers who helped clean up Hartford’s Keney Park Friday morning were on a special mission.
From 9 a.m. to noon, sailors on the Groton-based Navy submarine, the USS Hartford, headed into the park's overgrown and litter-lined Leadership Hiking Trail.
"It was a job that needed to be done, so that's part of what we do," said Caleb Hall, a submarine machinist.
The city of Hartford's Livable & Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative (LSNI) and the Department of Public Works teamed up with the USS Hartford crew to perform the cleanup.
“There is some overgrown vegetation and some blight so we are trying to correct those issues,” said Ronnie Vazquez of the LSNI.
One goal is to restore a once-popular trail for future generations.
“Our kids beginning to know about the environment and what makes them work and what makes this whole park work,” said Henry Hester from the Friends of Keney Park.
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The USS Hartford crew says it is hoping the partnership between the sub and the city lasts beyond this park project.
“It works well for us to put our faces out here and make that connection between the city of Hartford and the USS Hartford,” said Hall.
“This is a starting point for us and we definitely want to work and build upon this relationship,” added Vazquez.
