For a decade, the town has battled Daisy Bowers about her messy yard at 501 N. Main St., where she has run a continuous yard sale since the 1980s.

Finally, on Thursday the town acted.

Neighbors and others stopped by, amazed at what they were seeing.

“This is the best thing to happen in China Grove in 10 years” said neighbor Roy Arthurs. After watching a pile of rotted 4 by 4s quickly disappear, Arthurs changed his mind. “It’s the best thing to happen in China Grove in 40 years.”

Other neighbors said they had given up years ago and never thought the town would take action.

“Who wants this junk?” asked Paul Deal. “It needed to be hauled off years ago.”

Deal and another neighbor, Robert L. Douglas, swapped stories about the size of rats that have come out of the piles of debris.

Over the years, neighbors said, they have seen Bowers searching through trash in the neighborhood and carrying off windows, carpet and other items.

Town officials had repeatedly warned Bowers, a former aldermen, to clean up the yard and porch.

She remained defiant.

Cline and other town officials said last month that the condition of Bowers’ yard was the No. 1 complaint in China Grove. Several referred to it as the “China Grove Landfill.”

A deadline for cleanup passed last week and a $50 a day fine had started accumulating.

Bowers maintained that she was zoned for business and was conducting business. She said she had a right to put furniture and appliances in her yard.

Bowers said she was providing a service, allowing people to put discarded items at her home, rather than paying a landfill or hauling fee. She said she could resell most of the items.

Town officials said it was an unsightly junk pile.

Just after 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Codes Enforcement Officer Tony Cline arrived with a magistrate’s order that allowed search and seizure of property, inside and outside. Police Chief Michael Bentley accompanied him.

The 74-year-old Bowers, who recently began a job with the Census Bureau, wasn’t at home.

Last month, Bowers admitted her yard was a mess but said she had gotten behind while helping friends with health problems.

Cline met with Bowers Tuesday and gave her one last chance to do some cleanup. He said she acknowledged that she had had several offers of help but didn’t plan to do anything.

Cline stuck the notice on the door and gave Reggie McKnight the word to start work.

McKnight, of Kannapolis, operates a landscaping and hauling business. Cline, who also does enforcement for the city of Kannapolis, has used McKnight’s crew to do several cleanup jobs in Kannapolis.

He met with McKnight earlier and mapped strategy for an “easy” clean up. The warrant gave the town authority to clear off the porch and go inside the house, which was once the parsonage for First United Methodist Church.

Cline opted to clear the most visible areas only. But if Bowers starts cluttering up the yard again, the crews will be back to do a more thorough cleaning, he added.

With several helpers, McKnight moved in with a flatbed truck, a dump truck and a Bobcat track loader.

Starting in the back of the house, McKnight quickly determined he needed reinforcements.

On a cell phone he called other haulers and found more dump trucks.

Workers separated metal from wood and worked their way through a mass of debris at the back, off Ross Street.

Cline kept a video camera going most of the time, documenting the crews hauling away three or four truck loads of rotting wood. Workers picked out piles and boxes of glassware and stashed it out of the way.

By mid-afternoon, the crew got to the front yard, loading washers, dryers, bedframes and other furniture.

Cline opted to pick some items from the porch, leaving most untouched.

When Chief Bentley picked up a broken and bent plastic Christmas tree lying in the front yard, a rabbit took off for the backyard.

Workers struggled briefly with a old bathtub and finally brought in the loader.

One person came by to pick up some items she said she had given Bowers to sell. She told officials Bowers called her Wednesday to get her stuff.

By the end of the day, the yard at 501 N. Main was clear of everything except trees, scraggly grass and a bird bath.

When she returned home around 5 p.m., Bowers told Cline she was “mad as hell” and said “it wasn’t right.”

She told Cline she planned to contact an attorney.

Bowers did accept some help in clearing out debris from storage buildings, so she could save some items from the yard.

Cline said the town will bill Bowers for the work, which is expected to exceed $4,000. If she doesn’t pay it, the town will pay it and place a lien on the property.

In the end, workers stayed at Bowers’ house until about 8:30 p.m. and hauled more than a dozen truck loads of materials to a dumpster site to be transferred to a landfill.