I just returned from the garden dedication to Martha H. Ashe, mother of former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe at the Knoxville Botanical Garden. The information that I gathered during the speeches was very moving. I found out that in the 1950s, Martha Ashe would have her sons Keep Knoxville Beautiful by picking up trash on their way home every day.

To say that beauty and community pride was important would be an understatement. She apparently literally swept Gay Street with a group of friends.

It seems that Ms. Ashe was the quintessential pioneer and advocate for our community. We can all have an impact…it just involves remembering that home is beyond your front door.

If you happen to be a man (or woman) who stares at goats, you’re in luck!

We are very excited to be previewing our pilot project, in collaboration with the City of Knoxville to use goats to eradicate kudzu in City Parks at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens next Tuesday and Wednesday, May 18th and 19th. For an even more special treat, we are hosting a free light breakfast and discussion on Wednesday morning from 7:30am - 9:00 am with staff from Keep Knoxville Beautiful, the City of Knoxville, and Natural Land Clearing INC to fully educate interested folks in the project!

This will be a great time to come take a good look at the goats and the best time to learn about this exciting step in restoring parts of Knoxville to their natural beauty!

If you haven’t yet, check out the front page (!) article in the News Sentinel about the overall project here: No Kidding, City wants goats to eradicate kudzu

No Kidding: City wants Goats to get rid of Kudzu

Next Saturday, April 17th Keep Knoxville Beautiful will be joining the Tennessee Valley Earth Partnership and over one hundred private, public, and non-profit exhibitors for a day of food, demonstrations and celebration! Please visit the official website for overall information and read on for more about our exhibit!

Tree Giveaway

During the festival, we will be giving away over 700 trees! These bare-rooted whips stand 24-48″ tall complete with information about the species and planting instructions. All of the species (listed below) are indigenous and will be given at a first-come, first-serve basis but you can email info@keepknoxvillebeautiful.org to reserve yours today!

• Nutall Oak
• Overcup Oak
• Sawtooth Oak
• Shumard Oak
• Swamp White Oak
• Tulip Poplar

Bag Exchange

Fueled by the passion of three AmeriCorps volunteers, the Knox County Community Action Committee and the City of Knoxville are bringing together a wide variety of community partners, including Keep Knoxville Beautiful to cultivate the Community Nourishment Garden at Tyson Park.

This exciting project encompasses their mission’s ideals of Community, Education, Productivity, Sustainability and Beauty by installing and maintaining a charitable garden of fruit trees, berries, and vegetables to directly benefit refugees at Bridge Refugee Settlement Services and community as a whole. The accessible location and undemanding design will be productive at different times of year and rely on volunteer commitment and sponsorship that they hope to gain from more areas of our community.

Some of the notable features of the design include:

• Repurposed Building Materials: to build raised beds, a tool shed, and other needs as an example of raw resource reduction and material reuse
• Water Catchment: to collect rainwater for responsible resource use in the garden
• Productive and Edible Landscape Design: to provide food to the community and beneficiary throughout the growing season including pawpaw and apple trees, berries, hardy herbs and vegetables
• Compost: to ensure that organic waste generated in the garden will be naturally recycled into compost and become a soil supplement for the garden
• Rain Garden: to improve the water quality of Third Creek by filtering storm water as a model that community members can employ to lessen their household impact on our waterways.

To get involved with this landmark project, attend a public committee meeting or get in touch with the organizers:

Liz Moniz: moniz.elizabeth@gmail.com :974-2049
Matt Butzlaff: mbutzlaff@cityofknoxville.org :755 3178

Become a fan of the Community Nourishment Garden at Tyson Park on Facebook!

Volunteers have been working all over the city to make Knoxville a cleaner, greener, more beautiful place to live. Several families, a group from the UT rowing team, and the Virginia Tech alumni group are among those who have helped us pick up over TWO TONS of litter of the streets and green spaces of Knoxville. The rain didn’t even slow down our groups this weekend and we appreciate their trooper spirit that shined through despite the weather!

Together, we’ve also been able to collect $300 worth of clothing to donate to Goodwill, as well as diverted 300 pounds of recycling!

To exceed our achievements last year, we need to pick up the pace but with CPR, EarthFest and the National Day of Service one the horizon, I know we can pump up the beautifying action. Even though we feel great about producing these numbers, that is not all the Great American Cleanup is about. Ideally, we would take so much collective responsibility for our community that we wouldn’t even need this exciting event. Take an extra bag out with you when you walk your furry friends and see how much difference one trail of consistent action can make in your neighborhood. Hopefully- your neighbors will follow your footsteps!

America, I commend you for blowing Disney’s expectations out of the water by inspiring over ONE MILLION volunteers to take part in the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day in slightly over two months! However, this good news comes with the unfortunate fact that as of March 5, 2010 (tomorrow!) this motivational promotion will come to a close.

For those of you pushed by this exciting incentive, be sure to register immediately!

Those who have or will register for a flexible date, you MUST specify to remain eligible for your parks pass.

(photo credits to destination360.com)

Thanks to our friends at the Hands On Network, the online Volunteer Opportunity Portal will still be open for folks to sign up for date and time-specific events with Keep Knoxville Beautiful! This can be a wonderful tool for recruiting and organizing volunteers for extended projects during the Great American Cleanup, so contact us if you are planning an event that you would like to see included on the site.

We feel very lucky to have been a part of this fun promotion and hope that everyone who wanted to participate got their chance!

You know your own community, where you work, play and live better than anyone- even the busy staff at Keep Knoxville Beautiful! The Great American Cleanup offers opportunities for concerned individuals, schools, community or church groups, or even local businesses to take control of their local environment, take action, and get involved. Follow these steps to take the lead on your own project!

1. Organize a leadership team Seek out a small group friends, family and/or neighbors that share your passion for community involvement to help you plan your event. Divide and conquer by defining individual responsibilities!

2. Brainstorm litter pick-up, waste reduction, and beautification ideas As active citizens, your team will know what your surrounding community’s environment will need the most, from tackling an illegal dump site in the area, to hosting an organic composting workshop to help your neighboring gardens grow!

3. Share your ideas/plans with our staff and register your event Keep Knoxville Beautiful is chock full of resources and experiences that may put your initial plans and ideas on the fast track to action. Registering your event will line you up for national sponsor donations and a growing list of excitable volunteers

4. Set a date Depending on your volunteer pool, Saturday mornings are often best, with a scheduled rain date. Check listings and add yours to online calendars such as Metro Pulse, City of Knoxville, and Knox News Sentinel

5. Engage local government and businesses Call 311 to schedule a courtesy dumpster at a litter pick-up event, talk to elected leaders about your plans and invite them to take time to volunteer with their constituents, ask surrounding businesses for support citing that buildings surrounded by trees and shrubs suffer from half as much crime as those with no vegetation.

6. Outreach and promotion Use your team’s personal and professional resources to promote your event. Align your event with groups such as scout troops, environmentally minded clubs, church and community groups for additional help. Call Keep Knoxville Beautiful for a general Media Packet to help you get started involving media.

7. Organize the final details and prepare your volunteers Make checklists of necessary equipment, pre-event action required, and keep in mind all of the little details that come up along the way! Be sure volunteers know what kind of clothing and equipment they will need to have a comfortable day of service!

8. Brag about your success and thank your supporters Celebrate your event with a participant potluck, give out MVP awards (we have a limited amount of awesome t-shirts you could use), and follow up with thank you letters to donors and a progress press release. Complete your event report form and send it back to Keep Knoxville Beautiful within a week of your event!

WOW!

I can’t believe that the biggest/longest Keep Knoxville Beautiful event of the year began TODAY, and already we are well on our way to surpassing last year’s amazing achievements of organizing 3,424 citizens who donated almost 10,000 hours of service to clean almost 208,000 pounds of litter from 256 miles of streets, roads and highways.

With the added volunteer incentive of a FREE DISNEY PARKS PASS, calls have been coming into the office every day with groups small and large eager to get involved. With so many plans, we have been too busy to update the online registration until this week! Until then, if you are interested in planning, or participating in an event- please call the office 865.521.6957 or email nikida@keepknoxvillebeautiful.org to get started!

The Great American Cleanup offers opportunities for concerned individuals, schools, community and church groups, or even local businesses to take control of their local environment, take action, and get involved. Our hope is to empower the greater community into a culture of service that lends itself to making Knoxville a cleaner, greener, more beautiful place to live. Get in touch to plan an event today!