By: Leigh Patterson

We know you’ve seen them.  There are certain business, churches, and schools both large and small located in Athens/Limestone County that you can tell go the extra mile to care for their properties. They stand out. The flowers are colorful, the grounds are clean, and lawns are meticulously groomed. You can sense the pride taken by the caretakers of the grounds.

We want to know about those places, and we want you to tell us who they are!

Each year, the Athens-Limestone Beautification Board, which falls under the KALB organization umbrella, gives deserving businesses, churches, and schools Beautification Award signs to proudly display. It is a reward for their efforts to make Athens/Limestone County a more beautiful place to live, work, and visit.

This is our invitation to YOU to be part of the award process.

How To Nominate

Businesses, churches, or schools within Athens/Limestone County may nominate themselves, or any member of the community may offer a nomination. Deadline for nominations is Wednesday, June 8, 2022. To make a nomination, call 256-233-8000 or email KALBCares@gmail.com. Let us know your name, the name of the business, its location, and the reason you believe they deserve a Beautification Award.

Criteria Used In Judging

All properties nominated will be judged using a set of standards for evaluation. Judging criteria will include:

• Overall design
• Construction (including condition of walls, walks, and pavement)
• Planting (condition of plants, color, texture)
• Maintenance (proper trimming, edging and pruning, lack of weeds)
• Litter control (no visible litter, trash containers available and in good condition)

In mid-June, Beautification Board members will visit each business nominated. Using the criteria above, each nominated business, church, and school will be given an overall score. The top 20 scores will receive a Beautification Award sign.

Benefits Of Green Space

Close your eyes and picture your favorite park or other green space. Now imagine that place with no grass, no trees, no flowers, and no green. The tranquility of the place you imagined most likely vanished along with everything else. Beautiful gardens are welcoming and are proven to reduce stress. A beautiful city entices visitors to linger, which is great for the economy.

It takes effort to maintain beautiful grounds, and we believe those businesses, churches, and schools whose employees make the effort to do so deserve to be recognized. We invite you to help us do just that by keeping your eyes open for deserving locations. Then tell us about them!

By: Leigh Patterson

Executive Coordinator – Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful