Trails for Kids Challenges Fayetteville, as well as State, to Get Back to Nature

Memphis, Tenn. (June 3, 2010) - On May 24, Keep Fayetteville/Lincoln County Beautiful, Inc. (KFLCB) held a grand opening of “Trails for Kids”, a bike route and future site of an outdoor classroom, at Don Davidson Park in Fayetteville. Over 200 people attended, including 50 children who were given bike helmets and allowed to ride the trail at their leisure.

The route, which runs over six miles by a spring-fed creek and the Elk River and features six different trails, was developed by Kevin Freeman, a 15-year resident of Fayetteville, and local kids. They used tools donated by Ashley’s Hardware and simply “walking the trail in” to create the path.

	William Smallwood, Fayetteville resident, is pictured with his kids before they take their bikes out on the new "Trails for Kids" after the grand opening of the bike route at Don Davidson Park.

Fayetteville City Administrator Jim Lee said, “This is a wonderful project. Even though we are in a rural area, we have kids who love video games who never get out of the house and see the trees or feel nature. We will have an area here where they can not only see, but feel nature as well. This will be a good outdoor lab for them.”

Freeman, who started working on “Trails for Kids” back in February 2009, is very excited about current and future plans for the project. The trail currently features a butterfly garden and nature walk, in addition to the amenities of the park which include a pond, soccer fields, and several baseball diamonds. KFLCB Director Gail Randolph said the outdoor biology classroom will feature a garden, musical instruments, and even a small stage for kids to perform dramas or play instruments.

Freeman’s initial goal was to make a place for kids to ride their bikes safely, away from highways, and a spot where they could learn about the environment. He also desired to have a place in Fayetteville that would attract locals, preventing the need to travel elsewhere in Tennessee for outdoor enjoyment.  
   
“I just wanted to make a better place for our community to enjoy the outdoors…Nashville has Radnor Lake, Columbia has Chickasaw Trace, and now we have a place in our community where anyone can drive to, park their car and go for a walk, or just simply watch the butterflies or listen to a Cardinal sing her song. I tell people we have live music every day out here,” Freeman said.

Trek Bicycle Corporation donated 30 bike helmets for the kids. One hundred black walnut, oak and pine trees were given away to attendees by Childress Concrete.

Fayetteville City Mayor Gwen Shelton said, “The bike trail is a positive move. Not just [Fayetteville], but the entire nation has seen the need to get fit. I run, swim and bike myself, so I’m glad that others are seeing the need to get out and get healthy.”

For more information on “Trails for Kids”, contact Gail Randolph at (931) 433-8208 or e-mail lctnrecycles@yahoo.com.

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Nashville KAB Affiliate Aids City Along with Local Groups to Fight May Flood

Memphis, Tenn. (May 28, 2010) - The weekend of May 1 – 3 brought major flooding and damage to the state of Tennessee. One of the worst hit areas was Nashville, where the city is still doing its best to recover from the storm.

Doing its part to reclaim the city from the disaster is Metro Beautification and Environment Commission, a Tennessee Keep America Beautiful Affiliate (KAB). They have worked with 39 groups to help the city recover, not including individuals who have “stopped by for a small amount of gloves or bags to help remove debris from their homes”.

	Americorps Volunteers helped clean up debris from a house in the Moss Rose neighborhood in Nashville on May 15.

Vickie Ingram of Metro Beautification said, “When the Saturday rains began there were five major [2010 Great American Cleanup (GAC)] cleanups planned with hundreds of volunteers expected to be working in our city…From the day the rains began, it hampered the cleanups that would have been ongoing. The roll-off bins neighborhoods request for their cleanups had to be canceled indefinitely because they are needed for flood debris. The Public Works crews that help pick up bags after neighborhood cleanups have been delayed somewhat, although those guys are real troopers. They have been working 12 hour days and every time I've sent them a request, it's done. We have been somewhat delayed in our normal routines, but we are still cleaning up. Most of it at the moment is Flood Debris. The areas that had a cleanup scheduled are asking to continue, and we are handing out supplies as long as they last and supporting our volunteers in any way we can.”

Veronica Frazier, Executive Director, Metro Beautification and Environment Commission, said that response was immediate “on all levels”.  The mayor’s office, organizations, the business community, city officials, and individuals have all rallied together under a new slogan, “We are Nashville”.

There are five Nashville Disaster Information Centers: Bellevue Regional Community Center, Coleman Regional Community Center, East Park Regional Community Center, Hadley Park Regional Community Center and Hermitage Regional Community Center. Metro Beautification has kept busy by providing cleanup materials where needed, doing press releases on special events such as free “Electronic Waste Drop Off” and “Free Shred Event” for papers ruined in the flood, and helping elderly people with special needs get debris to curbsides for collection. Metro Convenience Centers are also open at no charge for flood debris.

Metro's 311 Call Center, part of Public Works, is keeping busy responding to special needs on a case by case basis-answering all calls, and dispensing flood information. Much planning has also gone into organizing volunteer groups and directing them to areas of immediate need; many going out with their community service crews, as well as organizing three different community service groups and sending them to most affected areas.

Metro Beautification also suffered significant damage to their warehouse. Ingram said “all of our materials that had been boxed for upcoming cleanups were also ruined, including t-shirts, Glad bags, gloves, hand sanitizer…our warehouse had fish jumping from the Cumberland River.”

KAB gave Metro Beautification eight cases of the 39-gallon extra large utility Glad bags. Keep Tennessee Beautiful sent 60 cases of 30-gallon Glad bags, as well as several GAC Banners. 

“We were lucky a good deal of our new t-shirt order survived up high on shelves in our warehouse. Groups were asking for them so volunteers would look uniform, being easily recognized and making homeowners comfortable knowing they were true volunteers to help them. We took them [t-shirts] to the Disaster Relief Centers, Hands On Nashville and the Arthouse Gardens Volunteer Flood Center. They [t-shirts] are on the backs of volunteers all over the city with ‘Cleaning Up Is Everybody's Business’ and all the logos that make our affiliation with KAB and KTnB a success,” Ingram said.

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Memphis Native Tackles Lead Position at KTnB

Memphis, Tenn. (May 18, 2010) - Sutton Mora Hayes, a Memphis native, has taken the position of State Leader of Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB).

Hayes said, “I have been involved with Memphis City Beautiful [Commission] for the past several

	New Keep Tennessee Beautiful State Leader Sutton Mora Hayes has six years experience in nonprofit administration.

years and loved working with that organization. In my time as a Commissioner, I have seen firsthand how valuable the advocacy and education work of a Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliate can be to a community. I wanted to become more involved with the work and getting the message out about the great work of the affiliates across the state.”

Sutton, who has spent the past few years working as Executive Director of Cooper-Young Development Corporation, has been involved in nonprofit administration for over six years.

Hayes said, “I understand the special needs non-profits have, but also that they are really just small businesses that need to be run as such. I think that perspective is important. I've also worked with community development organizations on the ground in Memphis and some across the state. I think it gives me a perspective on the needs of some of the communities here [in Tennessee] and how we might be able to help them.”

Hayes will kick off her tenure by learning more about the history of KTnB and KAB. “Then, I want to take inventory of what resources [Tennessee KAB affiliates] and other partners, like Tennessee Department of Transportation, may need from us and start making a plan to fill those gaps,” Hayes said.

Her long term goals include increasing KTnB’s web presence to become more interactive with Tennessee residents, updating and increasing the educational materials that are distributed to schools across the state, partnering with organizations to prevent littering and dumping problems, and making KTnB a more accessible resource for people across the state in creating and maintaining a healthy, clean environment.

Hayes’ hobbies include running, doing yard work, watching movies, trying out local restaurants, and spending time with her friends.

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Tennessee Swinging for the Fences as 2010 GAC Reaches Halfway Point

Volunteers Working Hard to Achieve Fourth Year of 100% County Participation During 2010 GAC

Memphis, Tenn. (April 21, 2010) – April 15th signaled more than just the deadline for paying taxes for green enthusiasts all around the nation. That date meant that the 2010 Great American Cleanup™ (GAC) is halfway over.

Tennessee is well on its way to making this year’s event a noteworthy one in the history of Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB). GAC coordinators from across the state have already held various events in their neck of the woods, in an effort to meet KTnB’s challenge to Tennessee to hit a grand slam in 2010 by achieving 100% county participation for the fourth year in a row.

	University of Memphis fraternity students plant one of the 18 trees that were planted as part of Memphis City Beautiful’s Green City Fund on April 1st at Poplar and Highland. The event is one of several beautification events MCB has planned as part of the 2010 GAC in Tennessee.

On April 1st, Memphis City Beautiful held its Green City Fund, celebrating 80 years of making Memphis a cleaner and more attractive place to live, as part of their 2010 GAC. The Division of Park Services, along with University of Memphis fraternity students, assisted in the planting of 18 trees at the northeast corner of Poplar and Highland. The trees planted were October Glory Red Maples, Nuttall Oaks and Green Mountain Sugar Maples.

Memphis City Beautiful (MCB) Executive Director Eldra White said, “We received tremendous support for our Green City Fund. Citizens are excited about the possibility of giving toward a fund that supports the planting of trees and plants throughout Memphis. They feel it is a great way to honor someone as well as help the environment. In fact, there is a lady who celebrated her 50th birthday recently, and, in lieu of gifts, she asked her friends to donate to the Green City Fund. So far we have collected over $600 due to her birthday tribute and more keeps coming each day.”

Designed to encourage public participation in the beautification of Memphis, the Green City Fund will use contributions marking memorials, birthdays, and other significant events, to purchase trees and other plants to enhance parks and public spaces throughout Memphis. Contributions to the Green City Fund are a way to show how much you care, both for the person honored and the environment.

White said that MCB also has several other beautification projects planned for GAC, “including our annual Beautify Your School Contest whereby schools throughout Memphis compete for cash prizes by completing landscaping projects on their school grounds.”

Keep Blount Beautiful (KBB) also is doing its part in this year’s GAC in Tennessee. The KTnB affiliate has already held a river cleanup on April 10th at Fort Loudon Lake and the Tennessee River, and they held Alcoa Inc. Recycling Bin Giveaway on April 15th, giving away free recycling bins to Blount households.

KBB Coordinator Charlene DeSha has several cleanup events planned, as KBB has found a way to increase their volunteer numbers in 2010. This year KBB has additional help in the form of Jillian Atchley, an Americorps Member. Atchley has been in charge of KBB’s volunteer recruitment since July 2009, enabling them to hold several new cleanup events since Atchley has come on board, including Big Orange Trash Bash, MLK Cleanup, America Recycles Day, Give A Day Get A Disney Day. Some of these events coincide with the 2010 GAC.

DeSha said, “All of these events are new to KBB in 2009-10, which has increased our publicity.”

On April 24th, KBB will hold Earth Round Up, which will consist of a county wide GAC cleanup. DeSha expects 2,000 volunteers at the event. Last year they had 450.

“The Give a Day, Get a Disney Day volunteer program was extremely successful for KBB. We have had 368 sign up to participate in the winter/spring months. One hundred of those volunteers are participating in Earth Round Up,” she said.

For more information on how to get involved in Earth Round Up, call DeSha at (865) 681-4809 or e-mail her at keepblo@earthink.net.

	Henry County Volunteers are pictured with bags of trash and tires from their April 10th cleanup.

Henry County Coordinator Diann McGuire held a cleanup on April 10th, as 28 volunteers collected 76 bags of trash and seven tires from around the county. McGuire spread word about the cleanup mainly by word of mouth.

McGuire said, “I tried to make it fun by giving the volunteers clues. I split them into groups of four, and gave them riddles as to where they were to go to collect trash.”

The volunteers ate pizza afterwards and McGuire gave away prizes to those who took pictures of the special areas around the county where people can throw away cigarette butts or place recyclables.

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Keep Jackson Beautiful wins $10,000 Grant from UPS

KJB wins Grant Courtesy of The UPS Community Improvement Grants Program

Memphis, Tenn. (April 14, 2010) – On April 8, 2010, UPS announced that Keep Jackson Beautiful (KJB) is a recipient of a $10,000 grant courtesy of The UPS Community Improvement Grants Program.

In 2001, after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, KJB along with the City of Jackson, volunteers and contributors established a 14.5 acre Liberty Garden as a living memorial and outdoor classroom for the people of Jackson. KJB plans to add to the Liberty Garden a Nature Explore Classroom with the money.

	The Battlefield Cross Sculpture is located at the Freedom Plaza section of Jackson’s Liberty Garden. Keep Jackson Beautiful Director Jodi Jacobs said, “All 14.5 acres of the park will serve as an outdoor classroom” as part of the Nature Explore Classroom.

"The grant is a terrific opportunity to extend the vision of Liberty Garden. The park was originally designed in 2001 as an outdoor classroom to promote wellness, arts, science and history,” said Tammy Buchanan, KJB Board Member and Liberty Garden Chairperson. “Built with community partnerships, the UPS grant continues the important partnership foundation and increases the development of outdoor features to attract children to discover the joy of the outdoors." 

As a Keep America Beautiful affiliate in good standing, KJB was able to apply for the grant offered through a national partnership with UPS. Construction will begin in June, with completion planned for November.  

The Nature Explore Classroom within Liberty Garden’s purpose will be to promote family interaction and to help reconnect children with nature. Project objectives include encouraging educational outreach and instilling proactive changes in behavior and attitudes towards wellness and the environment while also preserving green space. Children will also be able to spend time in nature, exploring, doing creative and imaginative play and growing a deeper knowledge and increased appreciation for the environment. 

The funds from the grant will be used for the purchase and shipping of materials needed to build the classroom, which includes musical instruments (a 56” long marimba, a 41” long amandinda, two sets mallets, a slap drum, a slap cajon and a slap box), large wind chimes, a large and a small nature art table, a balance beam and stools and benches. 

Keep Jackson Beautiful Director Jodi Jacobs thinks that “developing [children’s] sense of exploration outside in creative and imaginative play, while growing a deeper knowledge and increased appreciation for the environment in this tech age is a priority.”

Jacobs said, “Spending time outdoors will benefit people of all ages to enhance observation skills and applied visual-spatial skills, improve concentration and greater physical exercise, improve fine and gross motor skills such as coordination, balance and agility and increase student achievement in areas such as math and science.”

The Liberty Garden has been a welcome green space to the city of Jackson, and KJB encourages other Tennessee towns and cities to build one.

Buchanan said, "Access to nature areas is a welcome into Earth's art museum, and what an amazing display. Creation often silences us by such beauty and presence while respectfully inspiring hope, peace and resiliency. The addition of the Nature Explore stations to the park is a fantastic chance to foster a sense of wonder about nature in our youngest generation and investment in their roles as environmental stewards. Children may be profoundly shaped by the positive interaction they have with nature."

The Liberty Garden is a perfect example of “success breeds success”, as funding has played a big part in its inception and growth. Initial funding was through the community. The Liberty Garden was built on land given by West Tennessee Healthcare and the funds were all community contributions. Waste Management funded the Freedom Plaza, which was a part of Phase II of the project’s development, and it was dedicated on Nov. 11, 2009. Once the Nature Explore Classrooms are completed this year Phase II will be complete. KJB has Phase III in mind, which will include, potentially, a classroom building.

For more information on how your community can build a Liberty Garden and/or a Nature Explore Classroom, visit www.kab.org and search for Liberty Garden or Nature Explore Classroom in the site’s search box.

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Bases Loaded for Tennessee: Let’s Hit a Grandslam

Help State Achieve Fourth Year of 100% County Participation by Volunteering During 2010 GAC

Memphis, Tenn. (Feb. 23, 2010) – The bases are loaded, and you, the state of Tennessee, are up to bat.

Tennessee has had 100% county participation during Great American Cleanup (GAC) from 2007-09, setting a sparkling example of consistency and productivity during the annual Keep America Beautiful program. Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB) is challenging the state of Tennessee to hit a grand slam in 2010 by achieving 100% county participation for the fourth year in a row.

“The Great American Cleanup is a wonderful time for the volunteer spirit that Tennessee is known for to really shine. Together we can really hit blight and crime back through actively working at the “big three”: litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification,” said Keep Knoxville Beautiful Executive Director Allison Teeters. “As the most beautiful state in the nation, the Great American Cleanup gives Tennessee a chance to show off all its assets.”

Over four million pounds of litter and debris was collected in 2009 by 148,077 volunteers, and nearly two million pounds of material collected and recycled. This included 1,926 junk cars and 6,296 tires collected, as 179 illegal dumpsites were cleaned.

Last year Tennessee began a new streak. Tennessee had over a million participants (1,394,721) during GAC for the second year in a row. This was largely due to the 1,093,835 participants and attendees at 706 awareness events. We look forward to extending this streak in 2010 as well.

The Honorable Larry E. Potter, presiding judge of the Memphis/Shelby County Environmental Court, said, “Tomorrow’s world will be determined by today’s effort. The harder we work, the cleaner our children’s world will be.”

GAC, the nation's largest community improvement program, takes place annually from March 1-May 31, involving an estimated three million volunteers and attendees. The hardworking volunteers donated more than 5.2 million hours in 2009 to clean, beautify and improve more than 32,000 communities during more than 30,000 events in all 50 states and beyond. Activities included beautifying parks and recreation areas, cleaning seashores and waterways, handling recycling collections, picking up litter, planting trees and flowers, and conducting educational programs and litter-free events.

The National Sponsors of the 2010 Great American Cleanup are: The Dow Chemical Company; The Glad Products Company; Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water; o.b. tampons; Pepsi-Cola Company; The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company; Solo Cup Company; Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment; Waste Management, Inc.; Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.; and Educational Partner: Rubber Manufacturers Association.

About Keep Tennessee Beautiful

Keep Tennessee Beautiful is a department of Extended Programs at the University of Memphis, and state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Funded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, KTnB is the volunteer state’s agency working with all counties, including 25 local KAB affiliates, to make a cleaner, safer Tennessee. For more information on how you can get involved in a Tennessee GAC event, please call (888) 862-5326 or click here.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

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