In 2017, the mission of beautifying the area continues to stay strong for one local organization.
Carter County Proud hosted their first meeting on the new year on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at Smoke House BBQ Company near Happy Valley High School and provided insight on the plans for the new year while hearing the county’s tourism council.
Carter County Tourism Coordinator Kayla Carter took time during the meeting to provide a presentation of what the tourism council is all about while thanking the organization for their efforts of helping keep the area clean.
During the meeting, Jordan provided an update to members as far as the process is going to be affiliated with Keep Tennessee Beautiful, mentioning that he was awaiting the go ahead on a signature from the Chamber of Commerce to release the funding from the city and county to pursue the application process for affiliation.
Jordan added the group has an established board in place. The organization will continue to operate as Carter County Proud until the application process in complete. While awaiting the signature, the founder stated the group will reach out to the community to help scout areas within the county that are hotspots for litter and encourage individuals to take part in different cleanup projects throughout the year.
Carter County Proud has also seen support come from a variety of groups. Along with hearing from Robert Benfield with the newly created alliance for arts and culture for Elizabethton, Jordan stated he will be meeting with Chris Little of the Ideas organization to start having groups coming under one umbrella to help beautify the county. Father Timothy Holder of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Elizabethton also added that local churches could be encouraged to help with upcoming endeavors.
For future events, Jordan added he’s been in contact with Jason Onks, director of campus activities at Milligan College. Students are expected to be involved with future cleanup initiatives by the group.
One of those events is scheduled for this weekend. Carter County Proud will host their quarterly Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Adopt-A-Highway cleanup on Saturday, Jan. 21, on Milligan Highway. The event is scheduled to be begin at 10 a.m. and interested individuals wanting to take part are asked to meet at the Happy Valley Elementary prior to the 10 a.m. start time.
An upcoming item by the state includes an ad campaign that will start in the coming months to help deter individuals from litter. Jordan added the ads will appear on television and he received confirmation from the state that they will become a reality.