Keep Cherokee Beautiful Program Inches Closer To Reality

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — A new program to help keep the county clean and beautiful is closer to developing its vision. District 3 Commissioner Benny Carter held second community interest meeting Oct. 27 at the Hickory Flat Fire Station Community Room. Interested residents attended to share their thoughts on what the future of the program should be.

“Since the beginning, I’ve talked about this being a community driven program that is county supported,” Carter said. “We have been working since the initial June 30 meeting and have named several folks who have agreed to serve as officers for the Keep Cherokee Beautiful program.”

Those selected as officers for the program include Recreation & Parks Board Member Mark Preetorius, Cherokee Chamber’s Going Green Committee Chair Andrew Richard, and Waste Management representative Vic Knight.

Bryan Reynolds, director of the county Community Services Agency, updated the roughly 20 attendees that since the initial meeting, the program has been re-registered with the Secretary of State’s office as a non-profit organization and the process was underway to make the Keep Cherokee Beautiful program an affiliate of the national, Keep America Beautiful, program.

“Our affiliation with a national program will help make grants available to us,” explained Richard.

Richard added that a website was being developed and identified some initial projects like Adopt-A-Road program, providing educational opportunities and hosting large cleanup events once the organization gets started.

The top priority of Tuesday evening’s interest meeting was to determine what a Keep Cherokee
Beautiful program would look like. Those in attendance shared suggestions of providing educational resources to the public and special disposal days for things like hazardous chemicals and paint, and shared thoughts on groups to reach out to, including local high school groups to host a contest for logo and branding development.

Officers hope to launch the Keep Cherokee Beautiful program before the end of the year. Those
interested in becoming part of Keep Cherokee Beautiful should contact Troy Brazie, Cherokee Recycling Center manager, at tdbrazie@cherokeega.com.