Players take a whack at graffiti

Grand Rapids,MI,USA

FENNVILLE -- A little rain did not discourage Romeo Moreno from taking a few whacks of a sledge hammer against graffiti Tuesday.

The 14-year-old soon-to-be freshman at Fennville High School and about 20 teammates from the school's football program teamed up with officers from the Allegan County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday to clean up buildings and signs in the small rural community that had been defaced by graffiti.

"I wanted to do something good for the community, to make things better," said Moreno, a tackle on the school's junior varsity team, as he and several teammates dismantled a small wooden shelter in Paradise Park believed to have been used as a hiding place by vandals.

Fennville, a town with slightly more than 1,000 residents, has had off-and-on problems with graffiti the past couple of years. While symbols connected with gangs have been found spray-painted in the community, the graffiti seems to be more the work of "wannabes" than actual gang members, Sheriff's Deputy Dan Hoffman said.

"The problem is, wannabes (sometimes) become gonnabes," said Hoffman, a 19-year department veteran who has spent much of his law enforcement career in the Fennville area.

Paradise Park, a community park just north of the city's downtown, has been the hardest-hit area with graffiti. At one point, nearly every piece of playground equipment in the park had been "tagged," or defaced, Hoffman said.

Several juveniles have been arrested in connection with graffiti in the community, and have had to take part in cleanup projects as part of their restitution, Hoffman said.

"It's a few kids that are doing it. This is not what our community is about," he said.

The Fennville High football squad got involved with the project through a connection between assistant coach Lowell Winne and deputies. Varsity coach Tim Schipper, who had just finished putting his players through their second day of practice in preparation for the upcoming season, said the project was a good team-building exercise.

"We put the word out (that we were doing this project), and they came of their own free will," Schipper said.

Besides Paradise Park, the football players and deputies cleaned up several other buildings, including one near City Hall. After their work, the players were treated to a picnic lunch, provided by the local branch of Huntington Banks.

City Commissioner Jim Suerth praised the work of the deputies and football players. He said even though the city recently cut one of its two contracted deputies in a cost-cutting move, he remains optimistic that law enforcement will keep on top of the graffiti problem.

"The Sheriff's Department has been very good about tracking down the culprits," Suerth said.