Meet Wiggles – Bridgeport woman determined to keep the city clean

An 86-year-old Bridgeport woman is determined get the litter in her city all cleaned up.

News 12 Staff

Jul 18, 2020, 10:18 PM

Updated 1,542 days ago

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An 86-year-old Bridgeport woman is determined get the litter in her city all cleaned up.
Madeline Speer, who goes by the nickname Wiggles, says too many people think of Bridgeport as their “personal trash can." She asked her sons to start picking up the garbage and disposing of it properly.
Speer says the sight of trash in the street only encourages more littering.
"That's why Bridgeport looks like a dump! And we should keep it clean so people have a nice place to live.," she says. "My two sons went out one month ago cleaning sidewalks and gutters and everything else and they found a lot of stuff – needles thrown on the ground where children are walking the streets, with drugs in them and everything. So we gotta do something about Bridgeport!"
The family’s crusade caught the attention of Mayor Joe Ganim, who's calling the family "great ambassadors for a clean city." He says he plans to honor them for setting a good example.
Speer says her sons now spend several hours a week picking up litter on city streets.