Berger gives time, effort to keep Wildcat Nation, local community litter free

Through rain and shine, the parking lots, courtyards, and sports turfs around West are kept remarkably clean. Just as surprising as the school campus’ pristine condition is the small size and incredible devotion of the force maintaining it. For the past two years, these efforts have been led by Doug Berger, a retired Oshkosh police officer who regularly volunteers to pick up litter around the city. 

Berger has been cleaning up litter around Oshkosh for the past three years, but he began to focus his efforts on West and surrounding spaces, like Red Arrow Park and Pollock Pool, when he was making frequent commutes to West to help support his grandson in the school’s special education program. 

“I noticed all the litter around there, and I just started picking things up as I was going,” he said. “I felt a need to give back to the community a little bit.”

Berger continued to pick up around the school and eventually established relations with the Parks Department, and has now become an established caretaker for the city’s parks and the Wildcat lair.

“I try to go every day,” he said. “It doesn’t always work out, depending on the weather or if I take a trip with the family, but I try to stay on top of it and keep it cleaned.”

Berger’s efforts to keep the debris of high school students and staff out of the community have produced noticeable results, according to environmental science teacher John Reiland. 

“The garbage is almost non-existent because of him picking it up,” he said. “There used to be garbage laying all over.” 

Because plastic bags, single use food containers, and other commonly misplaced items are easily spread in breezy weather, Berger’s work cleaning the school campus and Oshkosh parks benefits not only the individuals who use these spaces, but the people and ecosystems in the surrounding area. Sophia Olmsted, a senior and member of the Green Alarm, values these efforts.

“I think it’s really admirable,” she said. “His contribution helps not only our school but our community. West is surrounded by a neighborhood, so he’s helping keep our community clean for both our students and families.”

In addition to its aesthetic detriments, scattered trash is highly damaging to the health of communities, where it can contaminate soil and water sources, suffocate animals, and create an environment for diseases to breed.

“You can just see the damage to wildlife,” Reiland said. “You can look at marine life, thinking certain parts of garbage are food. To completely break down, it takes thousands of years on some of it.”

By his count, Berger’s hauls are keeping staggering amounts of litter out of Oshkosh’s roads, neighborhoods, and natural spaces.

“I end up picking up two or three bags full of trash a day, thirteen gallons or better a bag,” he said.

Volunteering has also given Berger an opportunity to connect with and support his grandson, who graduated from West’s special education program last year. 

“He’ll help at the high school on occasion and whatever aluminum cans and scrap metal we pick up we cash in, and we put it in savings,” he said. “He wants to buy a van, and some day he hopes to be able to have enough where we can do that.”

Picking up litter has allowed Berger to become more connected with his community, an opportunity for which he is grateful.

“It’s a good feeling to get out and be able to talk to people, get input from different people, share viewpoints with people, and interact with people,” he said.

Students and staff have embraced Berger as an extended member of the Wildcat community, approaching him to offer their thanks or the occasional pat on the back. Olmsted appreciates the sacrifice by the familiar figure, and thinks that he serves as an inspiration for the community.

“Doug should be a motivating factor in keeping our school clean,” she said. “It may feel at times that one person can't make a difference, but that is the exact mindset that prohibits progress.”

When he’s working on West grounds, Berger is also watchful for items lost by students, which he delivers to the school’s lost and found.

“We’ve had jewelry, we’ve had an awful lot of clothing items, sweatshirts, jackets, that kind of stuff,” he said. “We’re trying to give back.”

Serving the community is a reciprocal act for Berger, who acknowledges the support that he has received from the community throughout his life and while pursuing his current volunteer work.

“The people from the Parks Department were really good,” he said. “They gave me what they call a grabber for picking up the trash rather than me having to bend over all the time and pick it up by hand.”

Reiland concurs that giving back to the community can be a unifying effort with invaluable impact. 

“This is where we all live, and we all have a stake in this,” he said. “We’ve got to work together around this and that’s the best way out of this stuff.”

Berger hopes that his efforts to remove garbage from the West campus and the city’s parks will inspire others to keep their community cleaner, and he believes that students are becoming more mindful about picking up after themselves and supporting the work of volunteers like himself.

“When they see me coming they'll pick things up around them and put them in the bag,” he said. “I've had a couple of students over there that have bought me a drink when they see me working out in the heat.”

Olmsted also hopes that students will do more to promote a healthy environment, whether that is by cleaning up litter, recycling, or taking advantage of school initiatives like free hot chocolate in the Wildcat Cafe for students who bring their own cups. 

“He helps us out of his own volition in picking up after our students when they should be doing it themselves,” she said. “Leaving nothing for him to pick up should be the goal.”

by Aria Boehler

Published December 2nd, 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue III