Photo by Jon Anderson
Shane Eaker, a parent at Spain Park High School, spreads mulch at a memorial for former students of the school who died at a young age, as part of the 2022 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup.
There will be no Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup this year — for the first time in 10 years.
Hoover Councilman Derrick Murphy, who has organized the effort every year since 2015, said it’s always challenging whenever there are principal changes, and with three new principals appointed this year, he decided it was best to cancel it this year.
As a former school board president, Murphy said he realizes the amount of effort administrators put in during the summer to prepare lesson plans and staff for the new school year, and he wanted to minimize any impact to that process.
Instead, he’s planning a fish fry for Hoover’s public safety workers to show appreciation for them, he said. That event is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Hoover Public Safety Center on Valleydale Road and will require much fewer volunteers than the Hoover City Dad Brigade, which called for volunteers at every Hoover school.
The Hoover City Dad Brigade will return next year, Murphy said.
The annual event usually draws several hundred men and boys (and some females) to help spruce up Hoover school campuses, with volunteers doing things like laying pine straw, pressure washing concrete, trimming trees and hedges, and removing weeds and trash. In some of the earlier years, volunteers helped with interior work as well, including painting, cleaning and moving furniture.
Editor's note: This story was updated on July 29 to add more context from Murphy on his reason for canceling the event and to reflect he definitely plans to hold the Hoover City Dad Brigade again next year.
