MANSFIELD — Nelson Shogren may have the record amount of time spent picking up trash in and around Mansfield.
He may also have the distinction of picking up the greatest variety of discarded items. He has walked streets, sidewalks and parking lots to snare glass bottles, aluminum cans, and plain old paper.
He has also waded Mansfield streams to collect plastic and other trash items that not only look bad but provide health risks for swimming fish, wading birds and other creatures from the waterways.
He has even hiked four-lane U.S. 30 to pick up everything from paper to auto parts.
“I have picked up enough car parts over the years that I could almost build a car,” Shogren said, adding he only needed a chassis.
Kim Hildreth, program coordinator for the engineering department, coordinates the litter prevention and public involvement programs for the city. She agreed there are very few other people who have been as active picking up litter as Shogren.
She said he participates in nearly every available program, including Earth stewardship, the downtown Clean Sweep, and Operation Clean Sweep (S.O.S.) – a stream clean-up program.
He has been at it for some 20 years, she believes.
As an example of the volume of litter that Shogren has helped collect, last year’s Earth Stewardship program alone saw about 20,000 pounds of litter cleaned up in the local community.
There were 51 projects in last year’s stewardship program, with the majority of them litter pick-up projects. Shogren, 63, said the waterway clean-up is the most challenging of the litter projects. The streams not only contain paper and plastic washed in from areas upstream, but also piles of trash intentionally dumped into the water.
Wading and cleaning the streams is particularly important because the plastic and other materials can break down and harm wildlife, he said.
Shogren is a lifelong Mansfielder who graduated from Madison High School. His post high school education took a couple of turns. He attended Mansfield-OSU and graduated from North Central State College with a degree in electronic engineering. He later graduated from Ashland University with a journalism degree.
Shogren worked for 30 years at the phone company that was called Sprint when he started and Century Link when he left. He spent most of his time in the communications department.
His focus on environmental issues has been a straight thread throughout his life.
“I have always felt that people who enter a clean area like a park are less likely to litter than they would in an area already containing litter,” Shogren said.
He organizes a neighborhood clean-up project each year in his neighborhood along Charles Mill Lake. Other favorite spots for him to pick up trash is in city parks like Liberty, Middle, and North Lake. He also works along the B & O Bike Trail. Again, part of his focus on parks is in the streams that cut through them.
Shogren is also involved with other efforts that focus on community health and environmental issues. He participates in Richland Moves! a group that promotes cycling and active transportation in Mansfield and Richland County.
Shogren is an active cyclist and said his most recent part-time job since leaving Century Link is to take care of bikes at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
“I can’t believe I get paid for having fun,” he said, adding that he goes for a six-mile bike ride nearly every day — 50 if he has the time.
Nelson’s father was noted Mansfield artist Kinley Shogren. He said his father probably painted as many as 3,000 local scenic pictures, including a number of depictions of historic buildings and settings in Mansfield. He said he believes his father’s artistic talents may have been what motivated him toward cleaning up litter.
“I always have wanted everything to look picture perfect,” he concluded.
Tom Brennan is the retired editor of the News Journal and a member of the Mansfield in Bloom steering committee. If you are interested in participating in any number of litter projects or other programs that beautify the community, contact Roberta Perry at roberta@chooserichland.com or at 419-755- 7234. If you wish to participate in the Earth Stewardship program, contact Kim Hildreth at 419-755-9689.
