POTTSBORO, TX-- After decades of free, hard work to keep one community beautiful, a WWII veteran is thanked by his neighbors.
Friends and family gathered in Pottsboro to hold a special appreciation ceremony for 91-year-old retired Navy Captain, Gerald Peddicord, Saturday.

The grass was wet but Friendship Park in Pottsboro was free of litter, all thanks to one local civil servant.

"Naturally I'm an environmentalist," Gerald Peddicord, said. "I'm kind of a tree hugger, and all those good things, and a green man, you noticed the punch today was green!"

91-year-old, retired Navy Captain, Gerald Peddicord, said he's ready to take a step back, and enjoy a break from the weekly street clean up he's been a part of at 8:15 every Saturday morning since the 1970's.

"When Gerry started this, it was '77 I believe," Pottsboro Mayor, Frank Budra, said. "We told him then we didn't know how long it would last, and it's lasted ever since then, and that's a hard act to follow."

After serving in WWII, Peddicord retired from the military in 1969, then became the manager of Tanglewood Resort.

But, even during the days he held a full-time job, he's always made room for his love of the environment.

"When I get a section of highway cleaned up, after it's been littered, I look back on it, and it cleans my soul," he said.

Peddicord often led groups of other volunteers around town, or helped minor offenders, complete their community service hours, as the head of the Saturday morning clean up program.

"Gerry by his own record has picked up so many tons of trash, we would be up to our eyes in trash right now," Budra, said.

Locals say Peddicord often spent his own money to purchase vests, and drove around in his personal vehicle during his time as an unpaid community leader.

After decades of hard work, the Pottsboro resident says he's pleased with the results.

"I feel good about what I've done for Pottsboro...as a matter of fact. I feel good about my whole life."