Photo by Flavia Potenza
Holding his “grabber” to display his school project, “I have a dream that one day I will be a Topanga Trash Warrior,” honorary Trash Warrior Tycho Hendry (5) sets the example for his younger brother, Rio (3), as the Warriors prepare to clean up trash on the Boulevard on Sunday, February 27, a task they have done for eight years. (l-r): Chris Conway, Lionel Heredia, Joseph Rosendo, Yuriko Sakamoto, David Carbo, Will Alford. Not pictured Beth Goode.
That is the actual story of my kid, Tycho, and his admiration of the Topanga Trash warriors.
Tycho is five years old. He takes littering very personally. When he sees trash on the side of the road or at the beach he says, “Why would anyone not love the earth?” or “Why don’t some people want to take care of the earth?” It’s a thing he feels pretty sincerely and deeply. He also really loves Topanga. When we drive to school he often says, “We live in the most beautiful neighborhood in the world.”
Two Christmases ago, I got him a “grabber,” the kind they use to pick the trash up off the side of the road, just as a fun thing to screw around with. One day we drove past the trash warriors on the side of the road picking up garbage and he noticed they had the grabbers! He asked what they were doing. I told him they were a group who got together to clean up the neighborhood every Sunday by picking up the trash, and they called themselves the “Topanga Trash Warriors”.
Well, he thought these people we’re the coolest. I think they have kind of a legendary hero status in his mind. When we pass by them, he rolls down the window and shouts, “Thank you, Trash Warrior!”
