April 12, 2019
By: Suzanne Williams
The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce and the DeKalb County Mayor’s office would like to invite residents across the county to participate in the DeKalb County Clean Up on Saturday, May 11th. The DeKalb Clean Up event will be held in conjunction with the Keep America Beautiful initiative going on across the country.
Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup the nation’s largest annual community improvement program that harnesses the power of over 4 million volunteers to build vibrant communities. Each year over 1,200 affiliates and participating organizations engage volunteers to take action in their communities through programs that deliver positive and lasting impact through events focused on waste reduction, recycling, beautification and community greening.
County Mayor Tim Stribling says, “We invite people to come out and help clean up around our communities and highways. Folks are welcome to pick up litter at places of their choice, or we will be glad to assign a safe place for you.”
Suzanne Williams, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, would like to remind everyone that DeKalb County’s peak tourism season is about to begin, so now is a great time to start getting things spruced up for our coming visitors. According to Williams, “I think we are all aware of the value and importance of beautification in our communities to attract newcomers and tourists to our area and to maintain a stable and growing economy.”
To get a head start on clean up, dumpsters will be set up at highly visible and convenient locations a few days prior to the main event. Dumpster locations will be at the Dowelltown Community Center, Liberty Community Center, Alexandria City Parking Lot (behind square), and the County Complex parking lot.
DeKalb Clean Up volunteers are asked to stop by the DeKalb County Complex on May 11th between 9 AM and 10 AM to sign-in and pick up the provided trash bags, rubber gloves, and bottles of water. We will be taking a group picture at 9:30 AM for the media if you like to participate in that.
For early sign-up, you can stop by the Chamber, located in the Courthouse, Room 201, anytime during regular office hours by May 10th to pick up supplies. Or if stopping by is not convenient, call the Chamber office at 615-597-4163 to be counted as a DeKalb Clean Up volunteer — just give your name and the general area where you will be working. Whether you’re cleaning up around a street, a highway, park, ball field, stream, or your own home, what a difference we can make through working together to make our communities safer, healthier and more livable! Don’t Just Sit There…Do Something Beautiful!