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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
As winter quickly fades into a fresh spring season, Keep Carter County Beautiful is starting to get into full swing with the warming temperatures as the group announced two upcoming events that the public is invited to participate in.

On Saturday, March 20, 2021, beginning at 10 am the group along with volunteers will participate in the clean-up of their Adopt Milligan Highway Program.

Participants will meet in the parking lot at Happy Valley Elementary School.

KCCB Chairman Edward Jordan said, “This event will comply with CDC, State TDOT guidelines, and social distancing. Everyone participating will be required to wear gloves and masks.

“Remember to dress warm and to bring gloves and drinking water. We will furnish trash bags, gloves, and a safety vest.”

Jordan reminded those who want to participate to also review the safety rules at TDOT Adopt a Tennessee Highway program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDAfyZRGDNQ&feature=YouTube or https://www.tn.gov/tdot/environmental-home/environmental-
highway-beautification-office/adopt-a-highway.html.

Also, as part of Keep Tennessee Beautiful, KCCB will be celebrating the month of March as Keep Tennessee Beautiful month as they launched Trashercise which is a statewide roadway clean-up campaign meant to inspire communities and individuals into action.

“Trashercise is the perfect project to launch during Keep Tennessee Beautiful Month – March 2021, especially after the long winter months of COVID-19,” Missy Marshall, executive director of KTnB said. “Trashercise gives our citizens the opportunity to get outside, do something productive for the community, while still social distancing. This campaign taps into the great volunteer spirit of Tennesseans.”

The idea for the program was inspired by Leiper’s Fork resident Aubrey Preston who was infuriated by seeing all the roadside trash.

Instead of just get mad, Preston decided to take action.

“I was at the gym one day watching people work hard on exercise machines around me. The thought crossed my mind: what if we could harness all this energy and do something good with it? So we started Trashercise, and it’s been very effective for our community. We’re honored the state of Tennessee has decided to adopt Trashercise and do something big with it,” Preston stated.

By sharing the program with residents statewide, Keep Tennessee Beautiful hopes to continue to educate and inspire Tennesseans to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment.

Jordan hopes to see Carter County join Trashercise to help ensure that all the roadways throughout the county remain free of litter and welcoming to visitors that come to Carter County over the upcoming months.