One man's trash ...

Warwick — You’ve had to notice. It’s spring, and residents in the village have been cleaning out attics and basements, closets and garages. The materials collected over the years — or decades — is piling up on the curbs throughout the village. Some of the stuff is definitely trash. You see it piled in the village’s dump trucks as they haul it, block by block. Other things, well, they don’t quite make it to the dump truck. Spring pickup weeks are like one big flea market to some because like the old adage, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That rowing machine you’ve had up in the attic for six years is just taking up space in your house. But to the young high school freshman who has decided to build up his biceps, it could be the start of a new regiment. And that colorful, plastic slide and cottage that your kids climbed on a decade ago might bring so much joy to the toddlers down the street. The lamp that hasn’t worked for the past six months? The handy guy who lives two blocks over could salvage it. It is an art form, really. Just look at the people driving slowly by as people are freeing themselves of their junk. It’s no different than the people who show up two hours before the beginning of your garage sale — they don’t want to miss the good stuff. One woman who has lived in the village for many years said she is amazed at what people will take. One year, she and her husband put out a large pit grouping of living room furniture. It was really big, with a pull-out double bed built in to one of the larger pieces. When she got home from work on day, she heard a knock on the door. It was a man who asked if her husband was home. No, but can I help you, she asked. He needed a hand getting the furniture in his car. He needed more than a hand — his car was a tiny, red sports car. The furniture was literally bigger than the car. But he needed help, so she went to the curb and helped the stranger balance the furniture across the top of his car. As he drove away, she feared what might happen if he had to stop short. Another year, that same woman cleaned out her whole attic. There was a ton of stuff out there, she said, taking up the entire frontage of her house. Her neighbor was a pro at spotting the good stuff. She would drive around the village during cleanup and snag some really good merchandise. Her two young sons, ages six and eight, were quick studies. One day, the two boys came over to the huge pile. It was overwhelming to them, but they were up to the task. Piece by piece, the boys moved every last article from their neighbor’s house to their driveway. It took pretty much the entire afternoon, but the boys did it. Wouldn’t their mom be proud when she saw what they scored. Not really. She made them move every last item back to where they got it. The boys weren’t nearly as enthusiastic moving it back as they were when they brought it home. Remember those slow moving cars in the neighborhood, just waiting for that diamond in the rough? Well, village trustee Eileen Patterson met up with one, sort of. She put out one of a pair of end tables. When she came out with the other one, the first one was gone already. She said she wanted to yell “Hey wait — there’s a pair.” But the shopper was already gone. And who would have thought that students could actually learn from what’s out at the curb. One Warwick High School student said an engineering teacher encourages students to bring in old motors from lawn mowers and weed whackers. They use them in class to see how motors work. And that old microwave? It may not make good popcorn anymore but the magnets inside can make great speakers.