Before the ribbon cuttings, years of development and laughter of children playing on modern playground equipment — there was a man with a trash bag and a wagon who silently cleaned Lopes Park unprompted.

Clifford Robinson, better known to the community as Cliff, lived up the road from the park. Most days he could be seen picking up trash, repairing broken boards and keeping the space safe for children. 

Even as his health declined and the seasons changed, he didn’t stop. Robinson continued to clean the park and often carried litter home to throw away for the park and its guests.

Though Robinson passed away in March of 2022 and the aging wooden park he tended to has been replaced, his legacy remains in a new movement. 

The “Be Like” series was started by Wareham Community Outdoor Recreation, a non-profit group of Wareham citizens who support outdoor recreation in town, to highlight citizens who honor Robinson’s legacy of helping out, even not when asked.

“The “Be Like” movement is bigger than a playground,” non-profit member Marie Grieg wrote in an email to Wareham Week. . “It’s about recognizing the everyday heroes among us — the neighbors who volunteer, plant flowers, help a friend in need, or simply spread kindness in small but powerful ways. It’s about building a culture that celebrates care over complaint, and action over apathy.”

Breaking up the flow of Facebook feeds, the group has been posting pictures of various people since July, 1 and how they have been like Robinson.

The group has made posts for community members like Rose Santiago, who arrives each morning to tend to Lopes Playground, Peter who walks along Onset Avenue and the Bourne corridor collecting litter in his yellow vest and Mike and Lou, a grandfather and grandson who visit the playground to play and clean the grounds.

Grieg said it feels nice to honor those who silently care for their community. Though Cliff is no longer picking up trash, his wife Sharon and the group carry on his name.

"I think that his spirit is in the air here," Grieg said. 

Grieg said the movement was inspired by a memorial picket at the park for Onset resident William Ruggiero who passed away in September 2023. Engrained into the wood of the parks fence, "Be Like Billy," remains.

As the busy season comes to a close and children head back to school, Phase 2 of the Lopes Park project will continue along with the posts. The basketball courts will be resurfaced and lined, the baseball diamond will be replaced and an Americans with Disability Act compliant perimeter pathway will be installed.

Those interested in getting pickets like Ruggiero's and being a part of Lopes Park can pick up forms from the Glen Cove restaurant at 167 Onset Avenue in Onset.