Old age won’t stop this 90-year-old grandma from keeping Hilton Head Island clean

Hilton Head Island resident Mimi Finger, 90, has an eagle eye.

Maybe she’s honed it from years watching after kids as a physical education teacher on Long Island or chasing after her grandchildren, but she spotted even the tiniest pieces of trash during her morning walk on the North End of the island.

Sporting a holiday sweater and equipped with a trash grabber her son gifted her, this grandma wants her community to be clean. Every morning for the past three years — except when it rains — she has collected trash on one of three routes. The rotation is marked on her wall calendar so the memory loss from her dementia doesn’t mix up the schedule.

Aside from the trash pick-up, Finger said her activities are similar to many of the seniors living nearby. She sits with friends and talks, knits colorful afghans and mittens, does Sudoku, rides her two-wheel bike, works on a Christmas puzzle and gathers with family. In the Town of Hilton Head Island, 39.2% of the 38,069 residents are 65 or older, according to the 2022 U.S. Census. That’s about 15,000 residents. Finger is an example of old age being meaningful and filled with joy, even if her memory isn’t what it used to be and she can’t move as fast as she could before.

“Gotta go quick,” Finger said while crossing the double-yellow-line street in front of Holiday Indigo Pines, her senior living community. It’s one of 15 senior living communities on the island. Runners, walkers and bikers on Indigo Run Drive and Gardner Drive’s wide sidewalks wave hello, and cars stop to let her cross.

There’s been very little trash in the past couple of weeks as the tourist season dies down, according to Finger. Some days her plastic collection bag overflows. She said she doesn’t like seeing the bottles, paper and cans in the island community she’s called home for the past three years, her son has for 40, and one of her daughters has for four.

“Maybe it’s just me,” she said. “It just makes me feel better.”

Her daughter, Judy Rewinski, said the daily routine and walk helps manage the dementia, which Finger has had for the past five years.

As her 91st birthday approaches this week, Finger doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. She said she’s always loved walking and thinks it’s terrible when people litter.

“I started to pick it up,” she said. “So that’s what I do. As long as I’m able to walk I’ll pick it up.”