North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By Mary Templeton
What do you do with your trash? The kindergartners in Kim Holloway’s class at Ocean Drive Elementary School learned what happened to the thoughtless, messy citizens of Wartville at their Friday, January 23, 2026, Ecotot meeting. The Yaupon Garden Club ladies wanted the students to learn the importance of keeping our country beautiful by placing litter in trash containers, not on the ground.
YGC member Mary Templeton invited the students to pretend that they lived in the town of Wartville. As member Lynne Payne read the book, “The Wartville Wizard” by Dan Madden, the students learned that Mother Nature grants a tidy old man the power over trash and he uses his power to punish anyone who throws trash on the ground. Whenever the citizens of Wartville throw out trash, it comes back and sticks on them. During a pause in the story, Yaupon Garden Club members Joy Murray, Belinda Roy and Mary Templeton begin sticking trash on the students. When the citizens of Wartville learn their lesson and promise not to ever litter again, the Wartville Wizard lifts his spell and frees them of their trash. The Budding Ecotots realize that littering has consequences and promise never to litter. They recycle their “trash” by placing it in the classroom recyclable container.
YGC member Belinda Roy distributed the coloring book and the littering bags encouraging good stewardship of our environment. Learning how to take care of the earth is an important part of the Yaupon Garden Club’s Budding Ecotot Program and these kindergartners are well on their way to becoming good citizens of North Myrtle Beach, the state of South Carolina and the United States of America.
