When the Hammond Neighbours and Katzie First Nation arrived at the empty lot at 203rd Street and 118th Avenue Friday morning, they were met with a nice surprise.

The District of Maple Ridge had already come through the day before and taken all the overgrown blackberry bushes away.

So the two groups worked together to clean up some debris that was left behind on the Katzie-owned lot and they worked together on tidying up a neighbouring cemetery.

"It was fantastic. A lot of people showed up," said Leanne Koehn of Hammond Neighbours.

"It was great to work with the Katzie and get to know them better," she added.

smclaren@mrtimes.com