2012 Billboard Design Contest Winner Announced

Eastbrook Middle School 8th grader, Brisa Mandujano, is the overall winner of the 2012 America Recycles Day Billboard Design Contest hosted by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority’s program Target Recycling at School.

The design chosen out of 193 entries includes the phrase, “Recycle, it’s the natural thing to do” which was the theme for America Recycles Day 2011. It features a group of students passing recyclable items, like bottles and cans, to each other and placing them in a green recycling bin.

The winning design will be displayed on two billboards in the Whitfield County area for at least one month. This is the third year of the design contest open to Whitfield County middle school students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade attending either a public or private school that recycles with Target Recycling.

The billboard design contest had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner from each grade level. The nine students, listed below, received a certificate of participation and a gift bag with America Recycles Day items and products made from recycled materials. (Their entries can be seen at the end of this article.)

6th grade:

• 1st Place – Jessie Zambrano, Dalton Middle School
• 2nd Place – Philip Le, Dalton Middle School
• 3rd Place – Viviana Juijon, Dalton Middle School

7th grade:

• 1st Place – Haley Chapman, Dalton Middle School
• 2nd Place – Karina L. Gonzales, Dalton Middle School
• 3rd Place – Jesus Hernandez, Dalton Middle School

8th grade:

• 1st Place – Brisa Mandujano, Eastbrook Middle School
• 2nd Place – Nicolas Perez, Dalton Middle School
• 3rd Place – Johnny Huynh, Dalton Middle School

America Recycles Day is celebrating 15 years of being a community-driven event dedicated to promoting recycling awareness, commitment, and action in the U.S. For more information on recycling, and to take the pledge to recycle visit www.AmericaRecyclesDay.org.

Target Recycling at School provides recycling collection services and environmental education opportunities to schools in Whitfield County. For more information call 706-278-5001 or the Recycling Page of our website.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours of Operation

Closed on Thursday, November 22nd

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority announced its Thanksgiving Day Holiday Operating Schedules for Landfill and Convenience Centers.  Locations include the Old Dixie Landfill & Convenience Center, McGaughey Chapel Convenience Center, Westside Convenience Center, and the M.L. King Convenience Center.  For more information visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.

Thanksgiving Day Holiday Operating Schedules for Landfill and Convenience Centers

• Wednesday, November 21, 2012 – All Locations OPEN – 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM (McGaughey Chapel Normally Closed)
• Thursday, November 22, 2012 – All Locations CLOSED – Thanksgiving Day
• Friday, November 23, 2012 – All Locations OPEN – 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Resume Normal Operating Days and Hours)
• Saturday, November 24, 2012 – All Locations OPEN – 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Community Planting Day on Saturday, November 3

Volunteers are invited to plant fruit trees at the Gaston Community Center in Dalton on Saturday, November 3rd from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. The trees will be part of an orchard for the center’s new community garden. This event, sponsored by Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial, is in celebration of Keep America Beautiful’sNational Planting Day. This is a new initiative to plant native plants, trees, and shrubs to enhance biodiversity, and protect wildlife in our area.

Pre-registration for volunteers is requested but not required. Participants should wear close toe shoes, and weather appropriate clothes. Tools and supplies will be provided. Click here to download the event flier and for volunteer pre-registration visitwww.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org or call 706-226-6211.

Special thanks to the following event organizers: Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Dalton Tree Board, City of Dalton, Dalton Parks and Recreation, and the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.

18th Annual Conasauga Watershed Clean-up

Be a part of the tradition on Saturday, October 27 when you join other volunteers in cleaning up the Conasauga Watershed. Registration opens at 9:00 am at each of the six clean up sites located in Whitfield County and Murray County. Choose a site and enjoy some muddy merriment as you help care for our area’s beautiful streams and river!

This year’s clean-up will take place at six locations:

• 1. Conasauga River at Carlton Petty Road bridge
• 2. Conasauga River at Highway 2 bridge
• 3. Conasauga River at Lower King’s Bridge/Norton Bridge
• 4. Holly Creek, Murray County, on the Chattahoochee National Forest
• 5. Mill Creek tributary in the City of Dalton
• 6. Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill

The 18th Annual Conasauga Watershed Clean-up is held in conjunction with Northwest Georgia United Way’s Make A Difference Day and Georgia’s Annual Waterway Clean-Up, Rivers Alive. The first 250 volunteers will receive a free shirt and a hat or reuseable water bottle.

Sturdy shoes or boots, gloves, long pants, and long sleeved shirts are recommended. Hip or chest waders are useful, but are not required. Trash bags and other supplies will be provided.

One of the six most biologically diverse freshwater river systems in the United States, the Conasauga River supports 24 endangered species and a dozen other imperiled species, including the Southern Pigtoe mussel and the Conasauga log perch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.

SPONSORS: Shaw Industries, J&J Industries, Dalton Utilities, Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority (DWRSWMA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Conasauga River Alliance (CRA)

COORDINATORS: Carpet & Rug Institute, CRA, Dalton State College, Dalton Utilities, DWRSWMA, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Limestone Valley RC & D, TNC, and Murray County Extension

For additional information, please contact John Lugthart at jlugthart@daltonstate.edu, or 706-272-2485.  Click here to download the event flier.

3rd Annual America Recycles Day Billboard Contest Announced

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority is pleased to announce it’s 3rd Annual America Recycles Day Billboard Contest for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that attend either public or private schools participating in the Target Recycling at School program. Students are invited to design a billboard in keeping with the spirit of America Recycles Day, which is celebrated yearly on November 15. The top design out of the three grade levels will be displayed for four weeks on two billboards in Whitfield County.

During the 2011 contest, Dalton Middle School 7th grader, Joel Paez won first place overall. His artwork, chosen from 105 entries, included the phrase, “I Recycle. Do You?” in green letters and showed a young boy picking up an item to recycle. The suggested billboard themes for the 2012 contest are, “Let’s Target Recycling Together”, “I Recycle. Do You?” and “Recycle, it’s the natural thing to do.”

Download the Contest Guide with an entry form. Deadline for entries is Wednesday, November 7, 2012. There is no entry fee, however an official entry form needs to be included with the artwork. Only artwork submitted directly from a school representative will be accepted. Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 15.

For more information contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001.

PHOTO CAPTION:The 3rd Annual America Recycles Day Billboard Design Contest is underway. Pictured is the winning design of 2011 designed by Joel Paez of Dalton Middle School.