Our own wild west suburb comes alive every September as hundreds of people visit Dobby’s Frontier Town. Of course, only a few people look like they belong in the late 1800s/early 1900s among the more than two dozen buildings. Keep Alliance Beautiful took part and offered three barrels to promote recycling.
Local programs and activities for your Keep America Beautiful affiliate range from promoting community cleanups to classroom education to window painting. Even after two-and-a-half years as an employee, I am still learning the extent of what we do. At the recent Keep Nebraska Beautiful (KNB) 2021 Conference there was an opportunity to hear about how some of the state’s other affiliates make a difference in their areas.
In a Lincoln hotel conference room, a program swap wrapped up the first day’s schedule. A packet described a dozen successes from throughout Nebraska. Attendees brought two-thirds of these ideas to life with additional details and even an example or two.
Discussion over the next hour or so fleshed out endeavors that all worked for the particular community. I could divide the 12 into what would apply to the Box Butte County area and what would not. There were great ideas that could be tucked away to try in years ahead. Others proved memorable for the forethought and execution involved. I was glad to see snapshots from this end of the state as well — Scottsbluff/Gering, Keith County and Chadron. As autumn arrives this week and pumpkins begin appearing on front steps, I’m reminded of Vanessa Oceguera at Keep Columbus Beautiful. They have encouraged people to participate in “Feed the Goats” for the past four years. In early November the public brings undecorated pumpkins to a local grocery store parking lot to be reused as goat snacks. This benefits the partnering farmer (who also provides a trailer for collection) while reducing the number of mushy pumpkins garbage collectors encounter after Halloween.
Dana Stahl of Keep Cass County Beautiful had another fall-themed program — pretty easy to guess from the saucer-sized laminated acorns she passed out to every table. The oversized nuts are for “The Nebraska Trail,” an interactive game that is modeled after “The Oregon Trail.” It encourages children to be actively engaged and learn about their environment, the packet summary states. She explained one of the only costs to play is a bag of nuts each player can draw from as a reward for completing an activity.
Among other ideas at the swap:
> Keep Omaha Beautiful — Trees For Schools: a partnership with the City’s Parks & Recreation Department and the Nebraska Forest Service in response to the invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle. The goal is to plant a diverse stock of several thousand native trees in the city’s parks and along its trails.
> Keep Keith County Beautiful — Lake Mac Beach Crew App: developed in the summer of 2020 as people could not gather in groups due to Covid, the app tracks volunteer hours of people cleaning the beaches at Nebraska’s largest lake. Volunteers report collected material and share photos.
> Keep Scottsbluff Gering Beautiful — Recycle Your Cycles: designed to keep bicycles out of the landfill. A partnership with Western Nebraska Bicycle Club and Western Nebraska Community College. Repaired bikes are donated to families and/or organizations that support families in need.
> Keep Chadron Beautiful — “Grab Bag” summer youth program: During 2020, kits could be picked up at the park or delivered to a family’s doorstep with weekly activities ranging from creating bird feeders from recycled materials, natural journals and chalk sets. All bags included litter pick up supplies to encourage community cleanup and beautification.