It Takes a Village to Host a Tourist

7:00 a.m.

The Surf Rake is almost done for the day. But before the tourists arrive on the beach, Miles Mita drives the small tractor from H. Barber & Sons Inc. for two-and-a-half hours to clean the white sand beside the Hilton lagoon. The daily ritual can scrape up 35 pounds of cigarette butts, food scraps and other trash left behind by beachgoers. “The lagoon and beach are state land,” says Hilton spokeswoman Cynthia Rankin. “Beach sweeping is part of what we give back.”