hello

Approximately 50 people recently met at Blairsville's City Hall to participate in the Great American Cleanup. The event was organized on a local level by the Union County Commissioner's Office, the Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce, the City of Blairsville , and the Downtown Development Authority.

Volunteers worked for less than two hours but accomplished a lot. Drawings of flowerbeds were provided by Caroline Glenn, DDA Design Committee Chairperson. "Caroline has worked hard to design the plantings," says committee member, Carol McKenckie. "She knows right where every plant should go." Many folks contributed their time and materials to make the event a success.

Flowers were planted, large beds were spruced up, and trash was picked up and removed. The event ended with music on the square provided by local band, Highway 76. Volunteers were literally dancing in the street. "It feels good to see something like this in our community," said one local lady. "The square looks much better and as the flowers grow and fill in, it will be beautiful."

Janet Hartman, Downtown Development Authority Program Manager, was pleased with the turn-out. She extended thanks to all the individuals and organizations that helped make the event possible. Hartman then introduced Blairsville Mayor Jim Conley and Union County Commissioner Lamar Paris who also took the opportunity to thank people for helping spruce up the town.

"Everyone deserves to live in a community environment that is healthy, safe, clean and beautiful, and we all have a role to play in achieving this goal," say leaders of the Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program. Now in its 23rd year, more than 30,000 events are planned in more than 15,000 communities. Activities include beautifying parks and recreation areas, cleaning seashores and waterways, handling recycling collections, picking up litter and removing scrap tires, planting trees and flowers, and conducting educational programs and litter-free events.

According to the Keep America Beautiful website, "The 2006 Great American Cleanup produced phenomenal results with over 228 million pounds of litter and debris collected; more than 2.5 million scrap tires and 37 million plastic (PET) bottles removed from the waste stream; 10,000 illegal dump sites cleaned; 38.5 million pounds of aluminum and steel recycled; over 5.5 million trees, flowers and bulbs planted and more than 6,000 miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines cleaned by the strength of over 2 million volunteers."

When the 2007 results come in, Blairsville volunteers can be proud to say that they participated in the Great American Cleanup. For more information about the Downtown Development Authority visit their website at www.DowntownBlairsville.com.