CLEANUP: It’s official: the season of winter cleanup is upon us.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced Wednesday the start of its 2017 Great American Cleanup of PA. The event will last from March 1 through May 31.

People can still register events to get free items like trash bags, gloves and safety vests from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, “Events can be litter cleanups, illegal dump cleanups, beautification projects, special collections, and educational events registered through the Great American Cleanup of PA website at http://www.gacofpa.org.”

As of Wednesday evening, events registered in the local area include the historic downtown Bradford spring cleanup, slated for 9 a.m. to noon on April 22 (rain date April 29); a Kane Area Revitalization Enterprise cleanup slated for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 12 starting at the Kane Community Center (rain date May 13); and the Jay Township spring cleanup slated for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 15 starting at the Jay Township Municipal Building.

More local events are always announced throughout the spring season.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to pick up the messes accumulated over the winter, grab a garbage bag and some gloves and have at it.

In 2016, more than 158,000 volunteers picked up about 5 million pounds of garbage, according to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. That’s more than 31.6 pounds per person.

DR. SEUSS: By the way, today is the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel — better known as Dr. Seuss.

Geisel died in 1991, but if he were alive today, he’d be 113-years-old today.

In memory of the contributions Dr. Seuss made to literacy, children across the nation are taking part in reading-related activities this week.