Mattapan Patriots clean Almont Park for Boston Shines

By Cara Bayles, Town Correspondent

The football players, cheerleaders, and parents of the Mattapan Patriots pop warner will spend Saturday cleaning up Almont Park, which is not only the team's practice field but also the site of summer cookouts.

The Patriots claim a sense of ownership over the park, which is the homebase for their summer operations. The volunteer force that runs the pop warner organization tries to instill the same sense of community responsibility in the young athletes it serves.

"On occasion, when the mulch is low in the swing lot, we spread it out ourselves," said Donald Caisey, president of the patriots, during a November interview. "It's really about taking ownership of that park and ownership of our community. If the park is dirty, we don't ask the parks department to clean it, we clean it up ourselves."

Saturday's cleanup is part of Boston Shines, an annual city-wide service event set up by the Menino administration. In its ninth year, Boston Shines is an outdoor exercise in spring cleaning, with community groups raking parks, planting flowers and beautifying public spaces.

For the Mattapan Patriots, the event marks the fact that football season is right around the corner, with just a month to go before online registration closes. Flag football already began last week, and the organization's year-round tutoring program continues to meet at the Mattahunt Community Center.

E-mail Cara Bayles at carabayles@gmail.com.