Volunteer street cleaner leads simple life
Libby’s most dutiful volunteer street cleaner rolls out of bed every morning knowing there is trash to collect and weeds to pick.
Marcel Cote, 70, has become a staple of the community since arriving in May 2013. His white hat, large black sunglasses and omnipresent PikStik wrapped with bright orange tape stand out to newcomers. But spend enough time in Libby and Cote will blend in with the mountainous background.
Every morning between five o’clock and 7:30 a.m., Cote takes a walk. He began the morning routine while living in Helena in 2011. A man needs something to do, he said, and the jaunts, which last between three and four hours, evoke a strong sense of freedom. He calls his walks the most enjoyable part of his day. More people should do it, as far as he is concerned.
“For me, I know I could go at any time,” said Cote, a prostate cancer survivor. “But why gather dust waiting to go? What kind of life is that? The city should pay young people to pick up trash. It’d help clean up the town and build character in the students.”
A self-described simple man living on a small Canadian pension, Cote said picking up trash serves as an easy way to learn the lay of the land. A picture of him posted to The Western News’ Facebook page on Sept. 16 elicited a strong reaction, picking up 340 likes and sparking 17 comments. The reaction was largely thankful, but few knew much about the man.
Cote is a private man who said his dissatisfaction with taking orders has caused him trouble his entire life. He worked more jobs than he can count — including two trips to the North Pole as a carpenter — and has lived in towns both big and small.
“Montana is nice because the towns have big bins all over,” Cote said. “A lot of small towns in other states don’t have that. Montana is good for walking, too. Libby has a lot of flat ground in town.”
Cote came to Libby after remembering a magazine article that said homeowners could not give away their houses here. He began his routine as soon as he arrived, and said not a day goes by without someone shaking his hand or thanking him for his public service. Back in Helena, anonymous donors would leave $20 bills under rocks in areas Cote frequented. He took it as a monetary counter to his own silent, anonymous benevolence. Not everyone, however, adores Cote’s work. He says some cleaning crews dislike him and occasionally send him off when they see him working their projects.
“What good is a nice lawn if you stop your job at the sidewalk,” Cote asked. “I’m not complaining, but they should just work above and beyond the call of duty.”
Cote said he feels a sense of pride — and a sore thumb — after cleaning up an area of town. He has gone through 10 PikStiks in his years cleaning towns. His preferred tool is a lightweight, 32-inch stick with a small handle that easily fits his hand. He said a good grabber goes two or three months before the wiring goes bad. Some sticks break within a month. Sometimes, depending on the store he bought it from and however the manager on duty is feeling at the moment, he gets a refund.
Cote is a frugal man by circumstance. He came into an inheritance a few years back, but burned through the money repairing a rental home in Helena.
“I was happy as a bird,” Cote said. “I had a nice car and would go get what I needed at Home Depot. It was stupid, but it made me happy. Money does not bother me much. It’s dangerous, when you have had nothing all your life, to run into money. You spend it quick.”
Cote built nearly all the furniture in his home. His three PikStiks rest on a wooden homemade tool rack behind his front door. On top of his homemade kitchen table sits a row of birdhouses Cote crafted. They are all about the same, with minor differences in the shapes of windows or size of chimneys. He’s been making the birdhouses for years and donates them to friends and charitable causes. They’re nothing special, he said, just something to keep him busy.
A lifelong traveler, Cote, who is French Canadian, said he does not know how long he will stay in Libby. At the least, he is sure he will continue his morning adventures.
“A lot of seniors would like to do what I do, but the place they live won’t let them,” Cote said. “Or, they just want to sit and watch the idiot box. I need to do something different.”