The bad news is that the planned Sixth Annual City of Bridgeport “Shred It Day” won’t be held Oct. 29 as was originally planned. The good news is that will now take place a week later, according to Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr.

 

“We moved it to Nov. 5 due to the fact that there were a lot of Halloween activities planned for that weekend prior to Halloween,” said Kerr. “I didn’t want people to have to pick between a Halloween activity perhaps with their children and family and going to Shred It Day.”

 

Of course, when Kerr figured it might be a good idea to move the day it wasn’t just magically done. The company that handles the process – not so coincidentally named “Shred It” – had to be contacted to see if they could accommodate a change on the calendar.

 

“I contacted them and the good news was, for our city, they were available and able to switch,” said Kerr.

 

Kerr is hoping to get the word out through Connect-Bridgeport. She also said information will be included on the next City of Bridgeport water bill.

 

The event has become highly popular since the first one was held in 2014. Since that time, the city has held two each year and generally sees the truck filled up with documents that residents want to see shredded.

 

The event is free, which helps draw the usually large crowds. It will take place at the Bridgeport Municipal Complex and runs from 9 a.m. to noon.

 

The truck has a capacity of 25,000 pounds and if that capacity is reached then the event is over. Kerr said individuals may want to get there early, but that she can only recall one other time that the truck was filled up prior to the end of the event. However, she said it’s generally right at capacity when the noon stopping time arrives.

   

“The one year we had to call it off at 11 a.m. because we had so much brought to us that needed to be safely and securely shredded,” Kerr said.

 

Kerr has said the event will likely continue and likely continue on a twice-a-year basis. As long as the demand continues, so will the event.  

   

The event is funded by the city. The dollars come from the city clerk’s professional services line item in the city budget.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the line at a recent Shred It event, while Council member John Wilson assists in the bottom picture.