All this ‘Baltimore trash fairy’ wants is a clean Westgate neighborhood

A walk with Dennis Betzel in his Westgate neighborhood usually requires a few things: a cap, a litter grabber and an empty bucket.

Block after block, he picks up miniature alcohol containers, crumpled Cheetos bags, sometimes condoms and his least favorite detritus: Little Trees air fresheners — which people seem to feel comfortable tossing out their car windows.

“I really started getting aggressive and posting on Facebook to try and get the community involved,” he said.

Neighbors seem to have followed his lead, eagerly showing him photos of their kiddos picking up trash, too.

Trash is a chronic problem in Baltimore. More than 13,000 illegal dumping incidents are reported to its 311 unit every year, and the city has a special investigations unit at the Department of Housing & Community Development dedicated to tracking down offenders.

Communities across the city host volunteer cleanups. Block cleanups can be organized through 311. And then there are good citizens like Betzel, who take matters of litter into their own hands.

The 62-year-old has been dedicated to keeping the community clean ever since he moved there from Glen Burnie in 2001. Sometimes he’s solo; sometimes he partners with neighborhood groups. He stepped up his efforts when he started working from home for a software company during the pandemic.

Westgate runs along Baltimore’s southwest edge, abutting the county line. The mostly residential neighborhood is near Ten Hills and has a variety of single-family homes. Some have a half-oval or square stained-glass window, a hallmark of certain builders, as Betzel tells it.

His irritation over how quickly trash reappeared after he and neighbors spent time cleaning it up led to his persona.

“People just think a fairy comes along and picks this up,” he complained to a neighbor. And, just like that, people began calling him “trash fairy.” He started donning fairy wings during many of his cleanups.

Betzel can trace his days of picking up trash to his childhood.

He remembers being around 5 years old and participating in a national litter campaign, which included getting a mask, a cape and a special bag to pick up trash in the Middlesex neighborhood where he grew up, he said.

Betzel was raised by a single mother after his father died young. She was a waitress who always kept her white uniform spotless, shoes shined and home in order, he said.

Betzel’s tidiness streak extends to mowing neighbors’ lawns. He also clears driveways when it snows and gives away eggs from his modest chicken coop, shaded by a towering willow tree in his backyard.

Shauna Jansen, Betzel’s stepdaughter, said he gets passionate about the community and the people who live there. Jansen recently borrowed a Toyota Highlander from Betzel. It was left to him by a neighbor who often received Betzel’s help before he died, she said.

“He just wants to help everybody,” Jansen said. He always wants people to know help is nearby.

Cleanliness runs in the family. Linda, Betzel’s wife of 33 years, has a small soap business called Betzel’s Bath Bars. The couple shuffle to farmers markets and events to sell her merchandise.

Westgate looks a lot cleaner these days, if you ask Betzel.

He once filled an entire pickup bed with trash, but his blue buckets aren’t getting nearly as full during his walks and neighborhood cleanups.