Candy Haylett, left, and Kenny Allore help to pull tires from a ravine along Glenwood Avenue in Lockport Friday morning. The pair were half of a foursome who dug 61 tires from along Glenwood Avenue and Gooding Street. (PHOTOS BY HEATHER N. GRIMMER / ENP PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Elizabeth Allore and Mike Bronschidle help to clean up tires dumped illegally along Glenwood Avenue.

A handful of Lockport residents took time out of their Friday morning to remove illegally discarded tires from the roadside along Glenwood Avenue and Gooding Street.

Kenny and Elizabeth Allore were joined by Mike Bronschidle and Candy Haylett to dig the tires out from a makeshift dump to the south of Glenwood Cemetery, as well as alongside the road.

Allore, a lifelong city resident said he and his wife decided to clean up the area because no one else was.

"Ever since I was a kid, this area was used as a dump site," he said. "I know the city is in financial straits — I get that. But this is a reflection, right here."

Allore, who lives on Hillcrest Drive, said he drives by the dumping ground frequently and just couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

He said he even found a box full of kittens dumped in the middle of the road earlier this year. "There were kittens everywhere." Fortunately, the kittens were cleaned up and taken to the SPCA.

Allore unties a tire he pulled up to the top of the ravine and readies it for disposal.

Aside from tires, the foursome found several other discarded items, including an old baby crib and some couches.

Elizabeth Allore said she and Haylett are hoping to repurpose the baby crib — to give vines something to climb on in their gardens. "And I'm hoping we can convince the city to at least take the couches."

Haylett said she decided to join in out of respect for her friend.

"Liz is my little hero," she said. "There's nothing she won't do to help her community."

The group expressed some frustration that while they were cleaning up, at least four city trucks drove by. Not only did they not offer help, no one even stopped to ensure that they weren't dumping more.

Once the tires were collected — 61 of them — Allore planned to take some to a farm in Gasport. The owner was going to use them to make horse jumps. The rest, he was planning to take to Liberty Tire to recycle, paying the $1.50 per tire out of pocket.

Bronschidle and Elizabeth Allore dig out part of a crib. Allore says she'll re-purpose it for her garden.

There's more photos available here.

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