FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Betsy Christian @512-478-8813
FRIDAY, May 21, 1999

KEEP TEXAS BEAUTIFUL ANNOUNCES WINNERS ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

Keep Texas Beautiful announced it's statewide environmental excellence award winners today. The winners will be recognized at the 32nd Annual Statewide Convention to be held in Austin, Texas, June 29-July 2, 1999. "There were over 125 applicants for these awards, and because all of the entrants had such strong commitment to improving their community and environment, the judges had a difficult task in selecting the winners," said KTB President Sharla Hotchkiss. The blue-ribbon panel of judges was comprised of community, business and government leaders from throughout Texas. Categories of awards included: Ruthe Jackson Youth Leadership, Sadie Ray Graff Education Leadership, O.P. Schnabel Senior Citizen, Litter Gitter, Ed Davis Litter Law Enforcement and Civic Organization Leadership. The judges also reviewed applications submitted for the KTB Program Awards. Categories of these awards included: Community Leadership and Coordination, Litter Prevention and Clean-up, Public Awareness, Beautification and Property Improvement, Illegal Dumping and Enforcement, Solid Waste Management and Education. Lists of the award winners and cities follow. Keep Texas Beautiful, the nonprofit state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, empowers Texans through education to take responsibility for enhancing their community environment. KTB works with volunteers, elected officials, businesses and state and federal agencies to ensure that every Texan will take individual responsibility for making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. For more information call 1-800-CLEAN-TX.

Ruthe Jackson Youth Leadership Awards 1999

Ruthe Jackson Youth Leadership Awards recognize outstanding efforts made by youth whose accomplishments are bringing about cleaner, more beautiful campuses, parks and communities, thus making Texas a better place to live.

Elementary Schools

1st- Encino Park Elementary School, San Antonio

Middle/Junior High Schools

1st- Burleson Middle School Students Environmentally Aware (S.E.A.), Burleson 2nd- White Oak Middle School, White Oak 3rd- Jackson Middle School, Grand Prairie Merit: Sablatura Middle School, K.I.P.P.E.R., Pearland Lincoln Middle School, McAllen

Secondary Schools

1st- Taylor High School - Taylor

Other School Associated Youth Groups

1st- Sablatura Middle School Life Skills Class, Pearland

Other School Non-Associated Youth Groups

Merit - The Trackers, Highland Village

Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts

1st- Boy Scout Troop #167, Taylor

Girl Scouts or Brownies

1st- Girl Scout Troop #068, Whitehouse

Individual

Merit - Whitney Laudano, Pearland

Sadie Ray Graff Education Leadership Awards 1999

The Sadie Ray Graff award honors those who demonstrate outstanding use of the Waste in Place (K-6), Texas Waste in Place (K-6), A Hidden Resource (7-12) and Spread the Word Not the Waste (7-9) curricula. Teachers, schools, school officials and school volunteers who encourage or demonstrate outstanding use of these curricula are eligible to win.

Elementary School

1st- Huntington Elementary School, Huntington

Middle/Secondary School

Merit - Saint Clement's Episcopal Parish School, El Paso Jackson Middle School, Grand Prairie East Central Independent School District, San Antonio

Teacher/Educator/School Official

1st- Linda Neal, Abilene
Merit - Lois Lister, Port Aransas Brett Taylor, Plano Kathy Luppy, N. Richland Hills Gary Jones, Athens

School Volunteer

Merit Greg Weiler, Rowlett

Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers Business/Industry Awards 1999

The Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers Business/Industry Leadership Award recognizes those businesses with sound environmental principles. The awards are named for Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers of Dallas, two founding members of Keep Texas Beautiful, and were presented for the first time in 1993.

Locally Owned Small Business

1st- Jeff Tuley Farms, Murchison
2nd- Stan Starrett and Beachwalk Communities, Port Aransas
3rd- Fischer's Market and Grocery, Muenster

National Corporation, Large

1st- BASF - Freeport
2nd- Allegiance Healthcare, El Paso
3rd- Home Depot, Grand Prairie
Merit- Phillips Chemical Company, Pasadena Motorola Austin, Austin The Trane Company, Tyler

Civic Organization Leadership Awards 1999

The Civic Organization Leadership Award recognizes outstanding litter prevention and beautification efforts by civic organizations. This award was presented for the first time in 1993.

Local Organization

1st- Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, Houston
2nd- Dalyouth Neighborhood Environmental Cleanup Committee, Grand Prairie
3rd- Waggon Wheel Community, Nacogdoches
Merit- Central Texas Recycling Association, Austin Northeast Environmental Team Inc. Custodian Project Northeast Environmental Team Inc. BEEP Keystone Archaeological Preservation and Protection Association, El Paso East Texas Arboretum and Botanical Society, Athens DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, DeKalb

Media Awards 1999

The Keep Texas Beautiful Media Awards recognize the local newspapers, radio and television stations for outstanding public service efforts designed to educate, inform and encourage public involvement in local litter prevention, solid waste issues and community beautification in cooperation with the local KTB affiliates.

Weekly Newspaper

1st- The Mesquite News, Mesquite
2nd- The Muenster Enterprise, Muenster
3rd- The Rowlett Lakeshore Times, Rowlett
Merit- Herald, Rockport DeKalb News, DeKalb

Semi-Weekly Newspaper

1st- Grand Prairie News, Grand Prairie
2nd- Rockport Pilot, Rockport

Radio

1st- KEOM - Mesquite

Cable Television

1st- Western Community TV Cable System, Big Lake
2nd- Haltom City Cable Access, Haltom City

Individual Leadership Awards 1999

Individual Leadership Awards recognize individuals who support KTB's mission of empowering and educating Texans to take responsibility in enhancing their community environment. A lifetime award that was presented for the first time in 1993.

1st- Jana Freeman, Big Lake
2nd- Salli Grissom, Port Aransas
3rd- MaryLee Alford, Muenster
Merit- Dr. David Kulhavy, Nacogodoches Rod Hale, Glen Rose Don T. Wilson, Grand Prairie Mary Tynes, Plano Robert Vega, Rockport Pam Burton, Athens

O.P. Schnabel Senior Citizen Awards 1999

The O.P. Schnabel Status Citizen Award recognizes senior citizens in special categories of men, women, senior groups and couples who have exhibited long-term dedication to the principles of KTB. This award is named for the late O.P. Schnabel, founding president of Keep Texas Beautiful. Mr. Schnabel is a legendary, inspiring example of leadership and commitment to the cause of a cleaner, more beautiful community, state and nation. It is estimated that he personally recruited more than seven million block chairmen in an effort to emphasize the importance of individual responsibility in making America and Texas cleaner. O.P.'s clean-up crusade began in the 1940s and has reached far beyond the borders of our state and nation.

Male Volunteer

1st- Dan Roberts, Rowlett
2nd- Alfred L. (Johnny) Rohmer, Muenster
3rd- Bob McDonald, Athens
Merit- Van Hovanesian, Rockport Keith Hubbard, Sr., Denison

Female Volunteer

1st- Ann Heberle, Burleson
1st- Shirley Jonas, San Antonio
2nd- Gladys Nell Klein, Taylor Merit Carrie Boyd, Rowlett Cris Duncan, DeKalb

Couple

1st- M.E. and John Nelson - Taylor

Ed Davis Litter Law Enforcement

This lifetime award recognizes the individual that goes above the regular call of duty. These law enforcement personnel set examples in their communities by enforcing litter laws and upholding codes mandated by city, county and state governments.

1st- Bob Brantz, Pearland
2nd- Lois Balka, Beaumont
3rd- Judge Carter Tarrance, Athens
Merit- Ben Davis, Taylor

Adopt-A-Highway Awards 1999

The Adopt-A-Highway Award recognizes the outstanding volunteer Adopt-A-Highway group and the Texas Department of Transportation professional who does the most outstanding job working with the groups. Nominations are made by Transportation Department staff and are judged by Keep Texas Beautiful.

Adopt-a-Highway Volunteer Group

Winner: Employees of Inks Lake State Park, Burnet

Honorable Mention: Alamo Chapter H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group), Cibolo

TxDOT Maintenance Section Employee:

Winner: Cheryl Waid - San Antonio Bandera Maintenance Office - San Antonio District

Honorable Mention: Donna L. Wooten, Nolan County

Keep Texas Beautiful Program Awards

These awards winning communities demonstrate their capability to implore effective and efficient tactics when completing projects in their respective communities. The applicants in this particular category competed with cities and towns across Texas, regardless of population or size.

Community Leadership and Coordination

1st- DeSoto

Litter Prevention and Clean-up

1st- DeSoto

Public Awareness

1st- Abilene

Beautification and Property Improvement

1st- Hale Center

Illegal Dumping and Enforcement

1st- Pearland

Solid Waste Management

1st- Abilene

Education

1st- Abilene

Sustained Excellence Award 1999

All communities scoring 90 or above on the complete Governor's Community Achievement Award application for three consecutive applications are recognized as Sustained Excellence winners. For purposes of determining this award, the 1996-97, 1997-98, and 1998-99 scores will be considered.

Athens
Denton
Lake Jackson
Lufkin
Midland

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