Sharon Slocum and the rest of the Cove Neighborhood Association spent the better part of their Saturday cleaning up the area’s parks. As volunteers raked, weeded and removed litter, Slocum couldn’t help but think of what the cove’s inlets used to look like.

“It always had a beautiful view but was not treated beautifully,” Slocum, the president of the association, said.

The inlets were places where people did drugs and drank, especially on summer nights, Slocum said. Many of the previous litter walks turned up drug bags, beer cans and other debris. “It looked dumpy,” Slocum said.

However, since the association began cleaning the park inlets six years ago, visitors have been treating the area better. There is still some drinking and drug use, but Slocum has noticed that more of the visitors are willing to respect the beauty of the parks.

“Now we don’t get the giant mounds of household trash,” Slocum said.

While most of those cleaning up Saturday were association members or Cove residents, there were other Stamford residents who just wanted to help make the parks look better. “We live nearby and we want it to look nice,” said volunteer Patricia Foston.

The City of Stamford cuts the grass at the parks, but that is the only service it provides, Slocum says. All of the other care and work is done by association volunteers.

Have you been to the Cove Park Inlets recently? What do you think of them? Leave a comment below or send your thoughts to reporter Anthony Buzzeo at .