Fairmount Park and neighborhood underwent a cleanup effort Saturday directed by Darryl Carrington, chair of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association.

Carrington said there was a record-breaking turnout in numbers and a record-breaking amount of time it took to do the project.

The cleanup began at 8:45 a.m. and finished about two hours later.

The cleanup spanned from 17th Street to Maple Grove Cemetery, a service to the occupants of the area, Carrington said. The cleanup is meant to help the neighborhood and the park at its center for the benefit of both Wichita State and the neighborhood.

“The goal is to create a seamless relationship between the university and the community,” Carrington said.

Creating that relationship is no walk in the park, however.

“I’d say we serviced over 700 homes in the process,” Carrington said. “You have to create the world you want.”

This was the third year the annual cleanup hosted its “Back to the Park” part of the project. Carrington described this aspect of the project as “cleaning the park, going home and cleaning up and then coming back to celebrate.”

This year’s celebration featured six live bands, a train ride for kids, face painting and free food.  The music kicked off the celebration around 2 p.m., each band playing for about an hour.

Junior Mika Hicks said while this was the first year she had heard about the community clean up, she will definitely be doing it again next year.

“It was a good idea to pick up and give back to the community,” Hicks said. “The music is just a good way to come together. I felt good about doing community service.”

It was a casual, easy-going event, said Reverend Larry Young of the Fairmount United Church of Christ at 16th and Fairmount.

“At the church, we put out a lot of stuff to get picked up and then I came out to listen to the music and support Darryl,” Young said. “The pendulum is swinging in the right direction for the park.”