Even after a city cleanup crew failed to show up last week, Bill and Helen Dunsford still had to say goodbye to many of the things they spent years collecting. All this after neighbor and city activist Robert Walsh said he called the Dunsfords last week and offered to rent them a dumpster, which the couple rebuffed.

Regardless, the city was focused on finally hauling away the Dunsfords' backyard full of swing sets, barbecues, chaise lounges, bicycles, and plastic chairs.

The Dunsfords' property, on Northwest Fourth Court in Twin Lakes North, had been a cluttered mess for decades, according to Fort Lauderdale spokeswoman Shannon Vezina, even before the area was annexed into the city in 2006.

City trucks had been to the property before. On Jan. 11, Vezina said, a city crew hauled away more than 5 tons of clutter from the tiny front yard.

“An additional 250 pounds of hazardous material was taken — free of charge — to the county hazardous waste facility,” Vezina said.

According to city documents, the crew removed items such as a Christian nativity scene, a windmill belonging to a dead brother, and plants for medicinal cancer treatment.

Much of the stuff had been collected over a long period of time, and the couple's friend, Bruce Toski, described the couple as “hoarders” and “pack rats.”

Bill Dunsford, 74, a retired auto mechanic, went to the courthouse last week in an attempt to prevent the city from coming onto their property.

“They're violating my constitutional rights,” said 64-year-old Helen Dunsford.
In December, a circuit judge granted the city the right to enter the property to bring it into compliance with city codes. On Jan. 6, the couple appeared before the city commission asking for more time to clean up.

“The problem goes back 15 [or] 20 years,” City Attorney Harry Stewart told commissioners on Jan. 6. If they give the Dunsfords two months, Stewart said, “we'll be right back here in [another] two months.”

“The Dunsfords are good people,” said neighbor Dan Steiner. “But they've got problems. The neighbors have a right to complain.”

Bill Doran, a deacon at First Baptist Church on Broward Boulevard, said he met the Dunsfords “at one of our feeding visits” and offered to help.

“But slowly things have been getting better,” Doran said.

In November, a Miami television station hired 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to remove items from the property and deliver them to Goodwill.

“We're going to do whatever we have to get the job done,” Helen Dunsford said.

Previously, the Dunsfords' had notified the city stated that they “will defend their homestead residence with their lives,” according to city documents.

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They stomped through the Progresso Village neighborhood with hand-held posters, flashing lights and a whole lot of noise, if only to stand up for a woman who has stood up for so many.

The crime walk that made its way through Fort Lauderdale's streets last weekend was a joint enterprise organized by the Citizens Volunteer Corps and the Progresso Village Civic Association.

The march began at the Gospel Arena Church on Northwest Third Avenue, directly across the street from The Pantry of Broward, which provides food and support services to low-income seniors.

Just days before Christmas, B.J. Buntrock, the 75-year-old founder of the charitable organization, was left battered and robbed.

“We don’t want a bunker mentality or residents thinking they’re lambs to the slaughter," said Progresso Association president Doug Sterner. "So we put the word out [and] the city responded.”

In attendance with the dozens of residents was Mayor Jack Seiler, Police Chief Frank Adderley, City Commissioners Bruce Roberts, Bobby DuBose and Charlotte Rodstrom, and five uniformed police officers.

“Come on and walk!” called out Paula Pereira, a board member of the Harbordale Civic Association and member of Citizens On Patrol. “It’s your neighborhood!”

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Victoria Park Civic Association board member Larry Wallenstein will head up an effort to collect memories and stories from some of the neighborhood's longtime residents, in honor of the neighborhood's 85th anniversary this year.

Wallenstein has been working on the project for some time and said he anticipated some roadblocks when he first began.

“This area is not accustomed to looking backward,” he said. “And I'd always thought Floridians were apathetic, not engaged.”

So far Wallenstein has recorded the memories of Robert Dressler, a trust lawyer who formerly served as mayor of Fort Lauderdale from 1982 to 1988. He's the mayor who appeared on Good Morning America to tell college students that they were no longer welcome in Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break.

Another resident had to be convinced that her story was interesting enough before they began. One lived in the neighborhood through The Great Depression, while another remembered the neighborhood when it had only dirt roads.

“Everybody has a story to tell,” Wallenstein said. “All I have to do is sit and listen."

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