Billboard Design Contest Winner for 2018 Announced

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Ms. Martinez’s design includes the phrase “I want to be recycled!” one of the themes of the contest. The artwork is an illustration of recyclables lining up to jump into a recycling bin. They are happy and excited to be turned into new, useful objects instead of being wasted.

Valley Point Middle School 6th grader, Alicia Martinez, is the overall winner of the 2018 America Recycles Day Billboard Design Contest hosted by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority’s program Target Recycling at School. The winning design will be displayed on two billboards in Whitfield County (one on Cleveland Hwy., and the other on E. Walnut Ave.) during the month of November.

The billboard design contest, now in its ninth year, has a 1st place winner from each grade level including 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The three winners, listed below, received a certificate of participation and a gift bag with items made from recycled materials. The first place overall, who is the winner of the billboard, was selected from the first-place design from each grade level.

 

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Winners for 2018

The winners all from Valley Point Middle that placed in the America Recycles Day Billboard Design Contest for 2018. From left to right: Alicia Martinez, Rhonda Burdette filling in for Javier Ayabar, and Javiar Torres.

 

·         1st Place in 6th grade and Overall Winner –Alicia Martinez, Valley Point Middle School

·         1st Place in 7th grade – Javier J. Torres, Valley Point Middle School

·         1st  Place in 8th grade - Javier Ayabar–, Valley Point Middle School

 

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.

 

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. It’s celebrated annually on November 15. For more information on recycling, and to take the pledge to #BeRecycled visit www.AmericaRecyclesDay.org. 

 

2018 School Beautification Grant Winners

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(Dalton, GA, September 21, 2018) – Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is pleased to announce the winners of the third annual School Beautification Grants for 2018. The committee for Beautification and Community Greening established the grant program in celebration of National Planting Day, which took place September 8 and is celebrated through the end of October.

Public and private schools in the Dalton, GA and Whitfield County were invited to apply for funding to implement a project related to planting native plants and beautifying the community. Each project aims to improve the visual aspects of the facility or provide an educational opportunity related to plants. The grants range from $250 to $500 which encompassed $83 to each team of one grade.

This year the following five schools were awarded a grant for their National Planting Day project:

1.    Coahulla Creek High School: Creating the Captivating Courtyard of Coahulla Creek

2.    New Hope Middle School: Georgia Native Plants Beautification Project

3.    Park Creek Elementary School: Berry Beautiful

4.    Morris Innovative High School: MIHS Pep Club Garden and Picnic Area

5.    Dalton Middle School: Team Trees

 

Projects will be completed by December 3 and each recipient will submit a project summary by December 21 to showcase their work. Visit Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful’s website www.KeepDaltonWhitfieldBeautiful.org or follow them on Facebook to get updates on the progress of these projects.  

National Planting Day is celebrated annually by Keep America Beautiful in the fall as an opportunity to encourage volunteers to plant native species restoring ecological balance to the environment while creating greener, more beautiful communities. Learn more about this event at www.kab.org.

24th Annual Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup

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Download Event Flyer

Whitfield County and Murray County residents are invited to participate in the 24th Annual Conasauga Watershed Clean-up event on Saturday, October 27, 2018 to help keep local waterways clean at one of seven locations.

One of the largest local volunteer events in the community the annual Conasauga River Clean-up is hosted in partnership with several local non-profits, businesses, and environmental organizations during United Way’s Make a Difference Day.

Last year 290 volunteers picked up and removed more than 10,000 pounds of garbage from seven locations. “Volunteers that come out and participate are of all ages and walks of life so it is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other people while doing a service for your community.” Said Amelia Atwell, an event participant.

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.

This year’s event takes place concurrently from 9:00 am to noon at seven different sites across both Whitfield and Murray counties. Be a part of the tradition by volunteering at one of the following locations:

1. Conasauga River at Carlton Petty Road bridge

2. Conasauga River at Highway 2 bridge

3. Conasauga River at Lower King’s Bridge and 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

Participants are encouraged to arrive early for on-site registration. Volunteers can expect to spend a couple of hours in the morning picking up trash and, depending on the location, removing invasive plants like Chinese privet. Volunteers should wear sturdy shoes or boots, long pants, and long sleeve shirts. Gloves, and trash bags will be provided at each site. T-shirts with this year’s river cleanup logo will be available on a first come first serve basis.  

To learn more about the river cleanup call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-278-5001 or visit www.KeepDaltonWhitfieldBeautiful.org to download the event flyer with directions to each site. Join and share the event on Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KeepDaltonWhitfieldBeautiful.

Gretchen Lugthart, a long-time organizer of the event stated, “I think we have made some progress regarding people’s attitudes toward trash in this region, but until everyone respects our beautiful streams and rivers enough to dispose of trash properly, then we will have work to do.”

Event sponsors and organizers include: Shaw Industries, J+J Flooring Group, The Nature Conservancy, Rivers Alive, Dalton Utilities, United Way of Northwest Georgia, Dalton State College, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, Whitfield County Public Works, Conasauga River Alliance, Limestone Valley RC&D, US Forest Service, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Murray County and Whitfield County Extension, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, and Murray County Public Works.