Summer Newsletter

Article Page

Table of Contents

Great American Cleanup Kickoff Rally

Acres Homes

Denver Harbor

Memorial Park

Pro-Vision Urban Farm

Westbury Community Garden

Wiess Park Reforestation and Butterfly Garden

Keep Houston Beautiful Day

Alief Community Cleanup

District D

East End

Tidwell Cleanup

Branching Out

Four Corners Dedication

Recent and Upcoming Events

Sponsors

2

5

7

8

9

11

13

15

16

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Visit us on the web at www.houstonbeautiful.org or call 713-839-8855.

Volunteer Opportunities: Your time and talents are always appreciated. Check the Keep Houston

Beautiful Web site for upcoming volunteer opportunities.

May 2010

Q2 2010

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Great American Cleanup 2010 Kickoff Rally - Houston

Page 2

Article by: John Hickernell

The Great American Cleanup 2010, with its theme, ―Green

Starts Here,‖ had its inception right here in our own home

town of Houston. Houston was the obvious choice because of

its commitment to volunteerism, being environmentally

friendly, and commitment to improving the quality of life for

ourselves and our neighbors. 1300 Houston volunteers

participated this year.

Keep Houston Beautiful hosted the kickoff at Sam Houston

Park near downtown and marked its beginning with the first

cleanup events. Robin Blut, through her many years of

dedicated leadership at Keep Houston Beautiful, has set the

bar high and Keep America Beautiful looked for the rest of the

country to step up in the same way as has Houston as its

efforts continue across the nation to make our world greener

and cleaner.

As The Great America Cleanup 2010 unfolded from March

through May, over 3 million volunteers in all 50 states were

anticipated to participate in more than 30,000 cleanups,

greenups, fixups, recycling, beautification, and community

improvement events in more than 32,000 communities as

part of the program. Through this event, Keep America

Beautiful is encouraging volunteer groups, community

leaders, and people of all ages and walks of life to step up in

their efforts to create more sustainable communities.

The program for the Houston rally was jammed packed with

exciting activities beginning with the inspiring sound of the

Parker Elementary School Marching Band, as well as the

heart pounding music and thrilling performances by the Raul

Yzaguirre School for Success, Heartbeat of Soul Marching

Band. This was followed by the music of local rap star,

J. Xavier.

On hand were representatives not only from Keep Houston

Beautiful, but also from Keep America Beautiful and Keep

Texas Beautiful. Gail Cunningham, Senior Vice President of

Keep America Beautiful was emcee for the rally. The official

beginning of The Great American Cleanup was marked by a

(Continued on next page.)

Stephen C. Costello, At Large Position 1; Oliver Pennington,

District G; Brenda Stardig, District A; and Mayor Parker.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Laura Ambrose, Stephen C. Costello, At Large Position

1; Oliver Pennington, District G; Brenda Stardig, Dis-

trict A; Mayor Parker; and Gail Cunningham.

Bill Balleza, Matthew McKenna, and Keiji Asakura.

Dan Sullenbarger, Matthew McKenna, Mayor Annise

Parker; and Jon Stephens.

Great American Kickoff Rally (continued)

Page 3

countdown, which included the participation of Houston

Texans cheerleaders and students from Crockett Elementary

School. This was followed by the presentation of the colors

by The Houston Police Department honor guard as well as

the singing of the national anthem by Melissa Saldivar, also

of the HPD. Roy Beaty, Senior Minister, Sugar Land Church

of Christ provided the invocation.

Houston‘s Mayor, Annise Parker, in the midst of her

extremely busy schedule, graciously accepted an invitation

to say a few words on behalf of our amazing city. We

appreciate very much her continued support of Keep Houston

Beautiful, not only with the Great American Cleanup, but also

throughout the year.

―There is no other place that I prefer to be at the moment,‖ Mayor

Parker said.

Mayor Parker‘s words were followed by remarks from Matthew

McKenna, President of Keep America Beautiful; Jon Stephens, Board

Member of Keep Texas Beautiful; and Daniel Sullenbarger, Chairman

of the Houston Clean Commission.

On behalf of the President‘s Council on Service and Civic Participation,

Matthew McKenna presented to Keiji Asakura RLA, Partner/Principal,

Asakura Robinson Company, The President‘s Volunteer Service Award, in recognition and

appreciation of his commitment to strengthening our Nation and for making a difference

through volunteer service. Keiji, is a shining example to

all Houstonians, and persons all across this great

country, of what can, and should, be done to help make

our world a better place.

This was followed by the presentation of the Hometown

Hero Award to Kathy Williams of KPRC Channel which

was received on her behalf by Bill Balleza, News Anchor

at Channel 2.

The Great American Cleanup would not have been

possible without its National Sponsors and Partners: Dow

Chemical Company; GLAD Products Company; Nestle Pure Life Purified Water; o.b.® tampons;

Pepsi-Cola Company; Scotts® Miracle-Gro®; Solo Cup Company; Troy-Bilt Lawn & Garden

Equipment; Waste Management; the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, and our Promotional Partners;

(Continued on next page.)

From left, Niki Nira and Mark Powell and Richard Stamper

Christina Block, Stephen C. Costello, At Large Position

1; Oliver Pennington, District G; Brenda Stardig,

District A; and Mayor Parker.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Great American Kickoff Rally (continued)

Page 4

Crescent Art and Framing Products; Get Green Racing; and our

Educational Partner Rubber Manufacturer‘s Association. Many of these

companies had displays at the rally.

Nestle did more than bring the water for the event; Nestle donated

more than five thousand bottles of water for the cleanup, and provided

recycling bottle displays at the rally. For every one thousand empty

water bottles it collected, it donated a park bench to Houston.

The local sponsors who help keep Houston green and beautiful are also

very important to our efforts: HLS Enterprises; Boyer, Inc.; Living

Earth; Asakura Robinson Company; Tim Hansen ASLA, MacQuarie

group; Home Depot; and ExxonMobil.

Several check presentations were made at the rally. The first by Everett

Bass, Vice President Public Sector Services of Waste Management in

support of the Pro-Vision and Sunnyside projects.

Then Laura Ambrose, Responsible Care Leader with The Dow Chemical

Company presented a check from Dow Chemical in support of the

Denver Harbor project.

Jim Tates, Regional President, Southwest Region for The Scotts®

Miracle-Gro® Company, presented a check from Scott‘s® Miracle-Gro®

in support of the Westbury project.

Mike Simmons, Chief Executive Officer of Greenstar, North America,

presented a check from Greenstar in support of the project at Wiess

Park.

Finally, Cristina Block, Public Affairs Specialist with H-E-B, presented

check from H-E-B in support of our project at Wiess Park as well.

As the rally came to an end, it was time for the prize drawings. Harry

Hayes, Director, City of Houston Department Solid Waste Management

assisted in the drawing for the prizes. Given away were a Troy-Bilt

Mower; 1,000 lbs. of free shredding by Greenstar; an HP Printer from

Halliburton; and a composting bin

from C. E. Shepherd.

To wrap everything up, J. Xavier

performed a piece at the end of the

rally that he had composed

especially for the Great American

Cleanup.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

J. Xavier performs at the rally.

Sara Conte

Theresa Sauls and Everett Bass.

Mayor Annise Parker From left, Harry Hayes, Tammie Campbell, Dan

Sullenbarger, Robin Blut, and Marina Joseph, with

water donated for the event by Nestlé Pure Life.

Acres Homes Adopt-A-Ditch

Page 5

City of Houston Public Works and Keep Houston Beautiful

Beautify Acres Home area with Adopt-A-Ditch Project

Article by: Alvin Wright

The City of Houston partnered with Keep Houston Beautiful

in an Adopt-A-Ditch project in the Acres Home area held on

Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 8 am in a drainage esplanade at

Ferguson Way and Depriest. The goal of the effort was to

raise the quality of life by transforming the adopted areas

into a cleaner, more environmentally pleasant place.

The overall scope of this award winning and nationally

acclaimed project was to keep the ditch free of litter and

debris while improving the quality of the storm water and

drawing added attention to stopping illegal dumping in the area.

Administered by Keep Houston Beautiful and the City of

Houston‘s Department of Public Works and Engineering

Right-of-Way and Fleet Maintenance Division, this effort

landscaped a 359‘ linear ditch. Hundreds of community

volunteers such as the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood,

Progressive Missionary Baptist Church members and

Teach for America teacher volunteers planted hundreds of

trees, shrubs and native plants which are used to filter

the storm water. The teacher volunteers took this valuable learning experience back

to the classroom as apart of a new environmental educational curriculum focused on

water quality.

Professional landscape architect Keiji Asakura, of

Asakura Robison Company LLC, who volunteered his

time, was on hand to provide direction and guidance

to ensure the program‘s success. Drought tolerant

plants native to Texas temperatures were used,

reducing the need for frequent watering. The plan

was to construct a walking trail around the ditch

comprised of material recycled from a coal plant that

is inexpensive, maintenance-free and safe for the

environment.

(Continued on next page.)

Acres Homes Adopt-A-Ditch (continued)

Page 6

The mulch that was used to create an

environmentally friendly appearance for

this project was comprised of recycled

brush and trees that were collected by

the City of Houston and processed by

Living Earth Technology Houston

Mulch™. Financial underwriters for the

Adopt-A-Ditch program and Keep

Houston Beautiful Day included UPS

Foundation, Republic Services, Marathon

Oil Corporation, HEB and AbitibiBowater.

In-kind contributors included: Living

Earth Technology; Home Depot for

trees; and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.

for water.

Adopt-A-Ditch is an expansion of the

successful Adopt-A-Block program that is a partnership between the City of Houston,

Keep Houston Beautiful, local merchants, volunteers, and residents. The goal of the

effort is to raise the quality of life by transforming the adopted areas into cleaner, more

environmentally pleasant places to live and work.

Derrick Neal, Adopt-A-Ditch Coordinator for the Department of Public Works Right of

Way and Fleet Maintenance, said the ultimate goal is to improve storm water quality in

our service region which flows to Galveston Bay. ―To this end, we want to use our

Adoption efforts as an integration mechanism within our ongoing educational curriculum

development activities within the HISD school system in partnership with Keep Houston

Beautiful,‖ Derrick commented.

Robin Blut, Executive Director, Keep Houston Beautiful, believes this effort makes a

difference in the quality of life in the community. ―This effort shows what a dramatic

improvement the landscaping adds to the ditch environment. Volunteer participation

and government partnership are the hallmark of the Adopt-A-Ditch program,‖ Blut said.

Article by: Site Captain Tim Hansen

As the gateway to the Denver Harbor neighborhood,

the 30-foot wide esplanade at Kress Boulevard and

I-10 was little more than grass and a few trees in

early 2010. The entrance sign was showing its age.

The Denver Harbor Civic Club recognized the

importance of a good first impression, so they and

a group of volunteers from the Denver Harbor Civic

Association, the City of Houston‘s Mayor‘s Citizens

Assistance Office, Halliburton, and Council Member

Ed Gonzalez‘s office came together on March 6 of

this year for the renovation.

Under the leadership of Keep Houston Beautiful and the Civic

Club President Anna Gonzalez, the planting of new live oaks in

the median and shrubs and flowers at a new sign was complete

before lunchtime. The volunteers, seeing that the work was well

in hand, even spread out over the surrounding area and

completed a trash cleanup that included the nearby gas

station and the I-10 frontage road. Marek-Hill Design

graciously offered their graphics design services to update

the sign.

Tim Hansen, ASLA, supervised the volunteer initiative.

Commissioners Salle Morse, Ramiro Fonseca, and Marie

Arcos attended the event. Sid Morse delivered new trees

and mulch to the site.

Gateway Makes an Impression—Denver Harbor

Page 7

Pictured above and at right, volunteers work to beautify the entrance of the Denver Harbor

neighborhood. Volunteers included: grad students from REACT-UH College of Architecture;

Ramiro Fonseca; Maria Bolanos; Anna Gonzales, President of the Denver Harbor Civic Club;

and neighborhood residents.

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, more than 100

volunteers, in partnership with the City of

Houston Parks and Recreation Department

and Memorial Park Conservancy, descended

on Memorial Park‘s Logan Woods area to

remove invasive or non-native plant species

from the forest. Volunteers pulled 80 cubic

yards of invasive debris out of the forest,

enhancing the health of the forest.

Memorial Park Conservancy had a few

naturalist volunteers who used orange

construction paint to mark the invasive species,

then other volunteers followed behind and removed

the invasive species.

Special thanks to our volunteers:

Page 8

Great American Cleanup, Memorial Park

Cameron Corp International

Community Volunteers Covenant House

DeBakey High School National Honors Society Eisenhower High School Key Club

Kappa Sigma-University of Houston Lamar High School National Honors Society

Lee High School Memorial Park Conservancy Board of Directors

University of Houston

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Article By: Site Captain Allison Grady

Don Gray and Sally Tyler volunteer to help

remove invasive species. Photography by

Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Pro-Vision Urban Farm

A Family Affair

At the Pro-Vision site, students and volunteers

joined together to bring the school‘s vision of an

Urban Farm life. Provision students and volun-

teers from Macquarie were able to plant 1/4 of

an acre of land for a vegetable field and plant 16

fruit trees to start the school‘s orchard. The site

was cleared by HLS Enterprise employees and

graded to begin production on a wetlands pond.

Living Earth Technology Company donated 60

cubic yards of compost to be tilled into the

graded vegetable field. In addition to the

preparation of the Urban Farm, volunteers from

the Theta Chi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi and

Texas Greek Picnic also weeded various areas around the school‘s perimeter and sanded

the football field.

Volunteers from Waste Management and the Order

of the Eastern Star—Valley of the Queens took to

the streets surrounding the school and the

Sunnyside Multi-Service Center to pick up litter.

Earlier in the week, Pro-Vision students helped

Everett Bass, Waste Management VP of Public

Affairs and Teresa Sauls, Waste Management

Volunteer

Coordinator,

and her son

plant 17

Shumard

Oak trees for a KHOU-TV Channel 2 news feature.

Just down the road at the Sunnyside Multi-Service

Center, parents joined Keep Houston Beautiful

Commissioner, Keiji Asakura of Asakura Robinson,

plant 30 white Natchez Crape Myrtle trees in the

Page 9

(continued on next page)

Sallé and Sid Morse.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Jon Stephens with his son. Photography by Jim

Olive/www.stockyard.com

Jessica Krug, Margaret Robinson, Kaye Harnden, and Jan

Rose. Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Article By: Reisha Beaty

Pro-Vision Urban Farm (continued)

Children‘s Nature Collaborative Garden and

10 fruit trees in the Sunnyside Community

Garden. This was a very memorable

and productive day and an amazing

achievement for all of those who were

involved.

Asakura Robinson & Company staff

members pitched in to help supervise the

volunteer landscaping efforts. Margaret

Robinson led the vegetable garden

installation. Jon Stephens, representing

Keep Texas Beautiful, volunteered with his

two young children and wife to plant trees.

On Saturday, June 12th, JetBlue

volunteers will join Asakura Robinson and

Company and the Children‘s Collaborative

at the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center

Head Start Program for another

Children‘s Nature Garden build.

Projects scheduled include installing and

mulching plants, building a footbridge,

teepees and trellises.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Page 10

KHB Helps Connect Westbury Community Garden to Scotts Miracle-Gro Company “Give Back to Grow”

Community Gardens

A Master Gardener‘s dream becomes reality with the

creation of the Westbury Community Garden. Because

Houston was chosen as a host city for the Great American

Cleanup by Keep America Beautiful, its affiliate Keep

Houston Beautiful received a Scotts® Miracle-Gro® 2010

Give Back to Grow Edible Community Garden Grant and

elected to give the Westbury Community Garden its

$5,000.00 gift. This is the miracle that Westbury needed

to make its garden grow!

Not only did Westbury receive a generous cash donation,

but the community also received a truckload of Scotts®

Miracle-Gro® products, and 34 Scotts® employees

volunteered for the Saturday, March 6 workday, including

Southwest region president Jim Tates. They built a lot of

beds! But that‘s not all; they provided the forklift and skid

loader to move topsoil and mulch into the 48 garden beds

built from 4,000 concrete blocks. More than 257 volunteers

pitched in to lay a 70-foot crushed granite pathway, 4

pallets of grass between the walkway and street curb, and

outline the floor of a 33‘ x 33‘ pavilion.

On Wednesday, March 10, the clouds held in the rain,

allowing the volunteers to put the finishing touches on this

great project so that their hard work could be celebrated at

a dedication ceremony. Mayor Annise Parker and Council Member Anne Clutterbuck were in

attendance, as well as Jim Tate (Scott‘s® Miracle-Gro®), Gail Cunningham (Keep America

Beautiful), Robin Blut (Keep Houston Beautiful), Ray Sher (Urban Harvest), Becky

(continued on next page)

Above, from left to right: Council Member Anne Clutterbuck; Pastor August, Bethel’s Heavenly Hands Ministry; and Mayor Annise Parker address

attendees at the rally. Photography courtesy of Scotts Miracle Gro.

Page 11

Westbury Community Garden (continued)

Edmondson (Westbury Civic Association), and many

more members and supporters from the community.

Alyce Coffey (Solid Waste Management) was crowned

the ―Cardboard Queen‖ for all of her hard work and

tireless efforts to help the community's dream become

a reality.

Cindy Chapman, President Westbury Civic Club, said the

outpouring of community support for the garden has

been remarkable. She thanked: Hazel Potvin and Garden

Club members for their inspirational leadership; Cindy

Matthes and Virginia Livingston for design; Horace Allison,

Houston Housing Authority, for a lease on the Dunlap

property; Leadership Houston Class XXVIII members for

volunteering; Maverick Construction for grading; and Earth

Essentials for irrigation. Lloyds Register America celebrated

its 250th birthday by joining in the gardening initiative with

a special muddy boot crew.

The highlight of the launch of the community garden was the

presentation of the first Youth Gardener Award to Henry

Monteil, pictured at right, for his leadership in using gardening

to improve the environment. Students from Tinsley

Elementary provided fresh lemonade to volunteers. Anderson

Elementary School Orchestra members opened up the

program with a strong drum roll. Second grade students from Foerster Elementary

recited garden poetry.

Becky Edmondson, Westbury Community Garden, garden guardian, reports that

Westbury is still basking in the joy that was generated by the garden installation. ―I

think our slogan should have been ‗if you build it, they will come.‘‖

A portion of the harvest from the garden will be donated to Bethel‘s Heavenly Hands to

support hunger needs. Keep Houston Beautiful donated two Troy-Bilt trimmers, a

mulching mower, and two C.E. Shepherd wire composting bins to help maintain the

garden. Nestlé Waters donated two plastic park benches. Houston Clean City

Commissioners Jan Rose and Ruth Hurst visited the garden while it was under

construction.

Photography courtesy of Scotts Miracle-Gro

and by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Page 12

Reforestation and Butterfly Garden at Wiess Park March 6, 2010

The volunteer site at Wiess Park, at 300 North Post Oak Lane, near 610 and Woodway,

was a large-scale effort that was made possible by volunteers from ExxonMobil,

Greenstar, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts,

the Memorial Mustangs, Houston Area

Realtors, Alpha Charity League, Houston

Parks Board, Keep America/Texas/Houston

Beautiful, and many other groups and

individuals. With more than 250 volunteers,

nearly 2,200 volunteer work hours resulted in

more than 2000 new plants in the

reforestation effort at the park.

Volunteers also helped mulch the new plantings with 400 cubic yards of mulch! The Girl

Scout Troop spread nearly an acre of wildflower seed, as well!

All of the plant material selected for the reforestation effort and butterfly garden were

native to the Houston area. Some of the 47 selected species included trees such as

Black Walnut and Farkleberry, shrubs such as

Button Bush and Beautyberry, and flowers such

as the Cardinal Flower and Primrose. The

wildflower mix included 28 native species, as

well. Many of the plants were still dormant at the

time of planting, but have since budded and

bloomed! The beautyberries have doubled in size

and are full of rich leaves. The cardinal flowers

are flourishing near a low, moist spot. The muhly

grass has grown as well, and now sways gently in

the breeze. A short stroll thru the park offers the

chance to see the vibrancy of spring in full effect!

More than 600 trees were donated by The Memorial

(Article continued on next page.)

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Article by: Michelle Jordan

Page 13

Butterfly Garden at Wiess Park (continued)

Park Conservancy, Apache Oil, ChevronTexaco, and

the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. The

Scotts® Miracle-Gro® Company also donated 17

pallets of soil and mulch to provide a healthy

start for the plants and flowers. The remainder of the

plant material was acquired through several local

nurseries, including Newton, Treesearch Farms, and

Doremus. In the coming weeks, a water collection

cistern will be installed.

This cistern will allow

rainwater to be

collected and used to

water many of the

plants in the Butterfly

Garden.

A special note of

thanks goes out to Lauren Griffith and Susan Cita for their

expertise in laying out the new plants. Thanks to the efforts of all of those who were a

part of this special day, our community can enjoy the beautiful benefits for years to

come.

Greenstar brought their recycling educational trailer to the park, as well as 96-gallon

recycling carts, which served to reinforce the recycle, reuse and renew theme.

Houston Clean City Commissioners, Susan Cita, above, and

Rey de la Reza, right, help out with the volunteer efforts at

Wiess Park. Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Page 14

Houston Volunteers Celebrate 25th Anniversary of

Adopt-a-Highway on Keep Houston Beautiful Day

On April 10, 2010, volunteers addressed an embarrassing problem: Texas roadside

litter. The Don‘t Mess with Texas Trash-Off, held annually, is the largest one-day

statewide cleanup in the United States.

Keep Houston Beautiful Day is held annually as part of the Great American Cleanup in

Houston. To organize an event in your neighborhood check out our helpful coordinator

materials and register for free cleanup supplies at www.houstonbeautiful.org. Help keep

Houston clean and green, volunteer today!

Don't Mess with Texas has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986.

TxDOT‘s litter prevention program includes Adopt-a-Highway and a grassroots

partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. For more information, visit www.txdot.gov.

Keep Houston Beautiful (KHB) has held an annual cleanup day in partnership with the

Mayor of Houston and City Council for 30 consecutive years. This year, 691 volunteers

participated in Keep Houston Beautiful Day. City of Houston Departments that support

KHB neighborhood initiatives include:

Solid Waste Management, Neighborhood Protection Corps, Mayor‘s Citizen‘s Assistance

and Special Event Offices, Houston Police Department, Parks & Recreation and Public

Works and Engineering, Right-of-Way and Fleet Maintenance Division.

During the Trash-Off on April 10, people will see volunteers in bright orange safety

vests collecting trash from roadways, parks, planting a ditch, mowing vacant lots, and

abating graffiti. Keep Houston Beautiful volunteers worked at six locations in honor of

the Trash-Off and in celebration of Keep Houston Day. Coca-Cola Enterprises provided

refreshments, Home Depot trees, Living Earth Technology Houston Mulch™. Financial

underwriters for Houston sites include Marathon Oil Corporation, UPS Foundation, Abiti-

biBowater, HEB, and Republic Services.

Page 15

Article by: Dawn C. Hurd, Constituent Services Director, Office of Councilman Al Hoang

Council Member Al Hoang hosted the annual Alief

Community Cleanup on April 10, 2010. We met at

the Alief Park, located at 11903 Bellaire Blvd., at 8am

to have a light breakfast with the volunteers and

ended the cleanup at 12pm, sharply. This year, we

had a tremendous turnout with over 200 volunteers

to show up ready to work. The Councilman gave out

City of Houston appreciation certificates to each

volunteer documenting 4 hours of community service

and there were door prizes, T-shirts, backpacks, and

other gifts for everyone.

This year, our office partnered with Keep Houston Beautiful, the Alief Community

Association, the International District, and the Alief Super Neighborhood Council in

planning this cleanup. To make this event a great day for the volunteers, we enlisted

the help of Republic Services, who was more than generous to donate pizza, soda,

and water for lunch. Several local grocery stores, such as Wal-Mart, Fiesta, HEB, and

Walgreens, donated breakfast food and water. Keep Houston Beautiful donated the

T-shirts and the International District donated backpacks, which we stuffed with all

sorts of items donated from various businesses throughout Alief.

Council Member Hoang showed up ready to work bright and early and did his part in

cleaning the park grounds. Overall, we had a very successful cleanup and look

forward to making the next Alief Cleanup even better.

The Alief Community Cleanup 2010

District D (Hope Worldwide)

Also on April 10, 2010, Council Member Wanda Adams rallied 75 volunteers in District D

to mow 10 lots, clean 16 ditches, paint 13 esplanade end caps, and remove 15 tires from

3 illegal dump sites, all in one morning. The volunteers represented Hope Worldwide and

End Time Ministry.

Council Member Adams is indispensible when it comes to cleanups. She has participated

in Keep Houston Beautiful Day annually for several years. Prior to joining City Council,

she organized cleanups through the Mayor‘s Citizens Assistance Office and during her

tenure in the Solid Waste Management Department.

Page 16

East End Clean Up Day 2010

Third Year to Participate in KHB Day

Article by: Hedy Wolpa

The Greater East End Management District, with help from more than 200 volunteers, moved 90 cubic

yards of litter and debris out of Houston‘s East End on April 10, 2010. In addition to de-littering 30

neighborhood blocks near Eastwood Park, the gathering place for the event, teams of students, business owners, and residents planted flowers and shrubs, picked up tires,

cleaned 2 playgrounds, and cleared vegetation from the historic Lunnon Cemetery. Houston City Council Member Ed Gonzalez and his entire staff spent the morning in

Eastwood Park cleaning the patio and flowerbeds and planting a variety of flowering plants.

Sponsors and supporters, armed with giveaways, T- shirts, and food for our volunteers, included Oak

Farms Dairy, Walgreens on Wayside Blvd., Keep Houston Beautiful, Crime Stoppers, METRO, Buffalo

Bayou Partnership, and SER Jobs for Progress. Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino‘s deputies and

METRO Police patrolled the East End worksites where volunteers walked and worked.

Constable Trevino featured East End Clean Up Day on his weekly television program, which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/thevictortrevinoshow#p/u/1/

uPzssI8DjYU., and photos of volunteers and Eastwood Park can be seen in the Photo Gallery on the Greater East End District‘s new Web site, www.greatereastend.com.

The management district measures our Clean Up Day success not only in the amount

of trash picked up and flowers planted, but in the diversity and support of our volun-teers, some of whom returned for the third year to help keep the East End a great

place to live and work.

Volunteer groups included the following:

East End Management District

MacArthur High School Honor Society

SER Jobs for Progress Mocha Sisters

Japhet Creek Association Sisters of Charity

Council Member Ed Gonzalez & Staff Boy Scouts Cub Pack 7

FM 2711 Restaurant University of Houston Academic

Achievers

East End Chamber of Commerce

Walgreens on Wayside Blvd. Idylwood Civic Association

Open Door Mission Friends of Lunnon Cemetery

Second Ward Super Neighborhood Houston Country Club Estates

Brighter Light Masons Houston Community College East

Early High School

Page 17

25 Student volunteers, as a community

service project representing the community

organizations Barbara Jordan Endeavors, Inc.

and No More Victims, Inc., and with the

support of volunteers from Grace Cathedral

Church, Commons of Grace senior citizens,

and Lakewood Church Outreach, removed

trash from the drainage ditches along Tidwell

at 9110 Commons of Grace Apartments for

seniors.

Barbara Jordan Endeavors, Inc., founded by Ms. Thelma

Scott, is a non-profit organization that provides

scholarships and services for students with emotional,

mental, and with physical disabilities, encourage,

empower and equip students to become self sufficient

and discover their maximum potential as they achieve

their academic goals.

No More Victims, Inc., a non-profit organization founded

by Ms. Marilyn K. Gambrell, is an advocacy agency for

newborns and children of incarcerated parents. The organization has been created to

provide emotional, physical and academic support for children experiencing the trauma

of parental incarceration.

TIDWELL AT THE COMMONS OF GRACE CLEAN UP KEEP HOUSTON BEAUTIFUL DAY, APRIL 10 2010, Council District B

Article by: Site Captain Calvin Wells

Page 18

Houston Astros players and staff joined NASA

Astronauts to plant 31 trees at Sylvan Rodriguez

Park in Clear Lake as part of the team‘s ongoing Play

Green program in January. Keep Houston Beautiful,

HLS Enterprises, Christison Landscape and Home

Depot continue to facilitate the Astros successful Play

Green tree planting initiative.

The 31 trees represent the number of Astros home

runs hit at Minute Maid Park last August and

September, bringing the total planted by the club to

80 – one for each Astros home run hit at home in

2009. Sylvan Rodriguez Park is a Houston Parks and

Recreation Department park named for former news

anchor and NASA champion Sylvan Rodriguez.

According to NASA‘s Chief Scientist for Earth

Observations for Human Explorations, Dr. Kamlesh

Lulla, ―Trees are nature‘s engineering marvel. They

absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide and produce

oxygen, thus mitigating the impacts of green house

effect.‖

Houston City Council Member Mike Sullivan thanks

the Astros for their commitment to tree planting.

―I am particularly proud that Sylvan Rodriguez Park

was chosen by the Astros,‖ says, Sullivan. ―My

constituents use this park on a regular basis and

will always know that the Astros, NASA, and

numerous volunteers worked to make our park

more enjoyable for those who use it.‖

Branching Out

Pictured above, Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt is

handed a shirt with his number on it that was taken

on the space shuttle into outer space.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

Page 19

State Representative Garnet Coleman, Doris Howdeshell, Texas

Department of Transportation (TXDOT), Quincy Allen, PE TXDOT

Houston, and Jon Stephens on behalf of Keep Texas Beautiful

board joined KHB chair Dan Sullenbarger in marking substantial

completion of the nine blocks underneath IH 45 and US 59 Four

Corners beautification project. Commissioners Keiji Asakura, Rey

de la Reza, Susan Cita and Salle Morse are working together to

complete the 2003 $265,000 Governors Community Achievement

Award (GCAA) lighting enhancement. Hai Duong, Houston Rockets, facilitated a Houston

Rockets staff and player tree planting with volunteer support from Republic Services and

Bio Landscape Maintenance. More than 600 trees were planted at the Four Corners site.

Republic Services sponsored the Houston Rockets tree

planting, which was titled Red Nation/Go Green.

Above, Reisha Beaty, with Keep Houston Beautiful,

and Houston Rockets player Chuck Hayes.

Keiji Asakura, Dan Sullenbarger, Ray de la Reza, and

Quincy Allen.

Four Corners Dedication Red Nation/Go Green Tree Planting

Page 20

Lady Bug on the Road for Earth Day

Outreach All-time High of 50,000

Recent Events:

Halliburton Volunteer Fair

Houston Astros Play Green Game

Houston Rockets Go Green Game

Hyatt Regency Employee Green Fair

Public Works Department Water Festival

Waste Management sponsored Houston Zoo Earth Day Festival

Calendar of Events:

June 5 On the Trail of Trash and Treasure (Sponsored by Greenstar)

Partners include: Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Student Conservation Association, Houston

Parks Board, Mayor‘s Office of Volunteer Initiatives Program, Parks & Recreation

Department

Site 1: 10am-2pm KBR Kids Day on Buffalo Bayou, presented by Buffalo Bayou

Partnership, downtown on the Sabine Promenade (Sabine Street between Memorial

Drive and Allen Parkway)

Site 2: 8am-Noon Freed Art and Nature Park, 1400 White Oak Parkway, Houston,

TX, 77009

Site 3: 8am-Noon Wiess Park, 300 North Post Oak Lane, Houston, TX 77024

June 12 Collaborative for Children Playground Build Sunnyside Multiservice Center

(Sponsored by Yao Ming Foundation) Volunteers from JetBlue,

4605 Wilmington Street at Cullen, Houston, Texas 77051

8am-Noon

June 21-4 Keep Texas Beautiful Conference, Austin Texas, AT&T Executive Education and

Conference Center, 1-800-CLEAN-TX http://www.KTB.org

August 20 Mayor‘s Proud Partner Award Entry Nominations Due:

http://www.houstonbeautiful.org/

Page 21

Thanks to our national sponsors of the Great American Cleanup™ and Keep Houston Beautiful Day:

Thanks to our local partners of the Great American Cleanup™ and Keep Houston Beautiful Day:

Thanks to our local sponsors of the Great American Cleanup™ and Keep Houston Beautiful Day:

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