2014 Billboard Design Contest Winner Announced

“I want to be recycled” is the overall winner for this year’s America Recycles Day Billboard contest.  The design was created by Eastbrook Middle School 7th grader Reina Paniagua.

Eastbrook Middle School 7th grader, Reina Paniagua, is the overall winner of the 2014 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 162 entries includes the phrase “I want to be recycled” which was one of the themes of the contest.  The artwork is eye catching and very colorful with a group of recyclable materials shouting out their desire to be recycled in a blue speech bubble.  

The winning design will be displayed on two billboards in the Whitfield County area for at least one month.  This is the fifth 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 at School.

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 items made from recycled materials. The first place overall was selected from the first place design from each grade level.

Eastbrook Middle School students who placed in the billboard contest are pictured with their artwork. Top Row, Left to Right: Graviela Zamora, Citlally Garcia, Angela Torres, and Reina Paniagua. Bottom Row, Left to Right: Luis DeLeon, and Moises Gaspar.

6th grade:

• 1st Place – Angela Torres, Eastbrook Middle School
• 2nd Place – Yanira Guzman, Dalton Middle School
• 3rd Place – Leonardo Fraire, Dalton Middle School 

7th grade:

• 1st Place and Overall Winner – Reina Paniagua, Eastbrook Middle School
• 2nd Place – Graviela Zamora, Eastbrook Middle School
• 3rd Place – Citlally Garcia, Eastbrook Middle School 

Dalton Middle School students that placed in the billboard contest are pictured with their artwork.  From Left to Right: Leonardo Fraire, Yanira Guzman, and Alondra Martinez.

8th grade:

• 1st Place – Luis DeLeon, Eastbrook Middle School
• 2nd Place – Moises Gaspar, Eastbrook Middle School
• 3rd Place – Alondra Martinez, Dalton Middle School

America Recycles Day is a community-driven event dedicated to promoting recycling awareness, commitment, and action in the U.S. thru its partnership with Keep America Beautiful.  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 visit www.dwswa.org. 

360 Volunteers Cleanup the Conasauga Watershed

Volunteers at the Mill Creek tributary located by the Underwood Apartments in Dalton removed 2,560 pounds of trash and debris during the annual cleanup event.

360 volunteers from Whitfield and Murray Counties participated in the 20th Annual Conasauga River Watershed Clean-up on Saturday, October 25.  The annual event took place during the United Way’s “Make a Difference Day”.  Volunteers spent the morning removing trash, debris, and invasive plants from seven sites in the two counties.  Overall, volunteers collected and removed 10,630 pounds of trash, which included 20 tires. 

Event organizers want to thank everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this year’s event.  The amount of clean-up time donated by volunteers, approximately 1,440 hours, is valued at $29,908.  Volunteers received a t-shirt and a 2015 calendar or coffee mug customized with images of the Conasauga watershed in appreciation for their participation. 

Volunteers removed 4,280 of trash from Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill during the annual Conasauga Watershed cleanup event on October 25.

Organizers want to especially thank this year’s funding sponsors: Shaw Industries, J&J Industries, Dalton Utilities, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, Georgia Rivers Alive, The Nature Conservancy, and the Conasauga River Alliance.  Also, they would like to recognize these additional organizations that helped coordinated the event: Carpet & Rug Institute, Conasauga River Alliance, Dalton State College, Dalton Utilities, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Limestone Valley RC & D, The Nature Conservancy, and Murray County Extension.

The Conasauga River, one of the six most biologically diverse freshwater river systems in the United States, supports 24 endangered species and a dozen other imperiled species, including the Southern Pigtoe mussel and the Conasauga logperch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.  The Conasauga Watershed Clean-up has long been a part of Rivers Alive, a statewide campaign to clean and preserve over 70,000 miles of Georgia’s rivers and streams.

Rivers Alive continues to be the state’s and one of the South’s largest volunteer efforts to beautify water resources.  So far this year, 8,900 volunteers have participated in 192 clean-up events through out the state and have removed 388,308 pounds of garbage from Georgia waterways. For more information about efforts in other areas or the statewide campaign visit www.RiversAlive.org.

Landfill, Convenience Centers To Be Closed Thursday, November 27, 2014

Facilities to be closed in observance of Thanksgiving Day

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority has announced the holiday hours of operation for it’s four facilities in Whitfield County. Locations include:

1. Old Dixie Landfill & Convenience Center
2. McGaughey Chapel Convenience Center in Cohutta
3. Westside Convenience Center in Rocky Face
4. M.L. King Convenience Center in Dalton

All locations will be open from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm on Wednesday, November 26 including the McGaughey Chapel location that is normally closed on Wednesdays.  All four sites will be closed on Thursday, November 27 in observance of Thanksgiving Day.  All locations will reopen on Friday, November 28 from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm and resume normal hours.

For more information call the main office at 706-277-2545.

Thanksgiving Day Holiday Schedule:

• Wednesday, November 26, 2014 – All Locations OPEN - EARLY CLOSING: 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM  (McGaughey Chapel Normally Closed)

• Thursday, November 27, 2014 – All Locations CLOSED – Thanksgiving Day

• Friday, November 28, 2014 – All Locations OPEN – 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Resume Normal Schedule)

PUBLIC NOTICE - FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

October 23, 2014 

PUBLIC NOTICE 

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING 

The Dalton Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority’s Finance Committee will hold a meeting on Friday, October 24, 2014, at 9:30 AM at the Dalton City Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 300 West Waugh Street, Dalton Georgia. The meeting is open to the public. 

Questions concerning this meeting should be directed to Norman Barashick, Dalton Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, at (706) 277-2545 or email nbarashick@dwswa.org. 

20th Annual Conasauga Watershed River Clean-up Announced

(Dalton, GA, October 18, 2014) –  Be a part of the local tradition on Saturday, October 25 when you join other volunteers in cleaning up the Conasauga Watershed.  Registration opens at 9:00 am at each of the seven clean up sites located in Whitfield and Murray Counties.  Choose a site and enjoy some muddy merriment as you serve your community and help care for our area’s beautiful streams and river! 

This year’s clean-up will take place at seven 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

7. Lakeshore Park in the City of Dalton

The 20th 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 limited number of Conasauga calendars or Conasauga coffee mugs will also be available. 

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 logperch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.

SPONSORS:    Shaw Industries, J&J Industries, Dalton Utilities, Dalton-Whitfield Georgia Rivers Alive, 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. To download the event flier with directions visit  www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org.