We’re gearing up to get a little dirty again! The Athens-Limestone Beautification Board is planning their fall planting for the downtown pots, and we are very excited! We are going to try some new things this fall, and we can’t wait to see how they turn out. We take great pride in the Downtown Beautification Project, and we are always ready to change them up for the new season to come.
The most exciting part of our fall planting this year will be all the new partnership we will have. The students from the Advanced Agriculture Program from the Limestone Career Technical Center will not only be joining us to help us remove the spring and summer planting, but they are going to help us plant for fall as well. Since this is our favorite project, we are grateful to be able to enlist the help of students from all over Limestone County as we begin to expand the project. Since the Athens-Limestone Beautification Board is under the Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful umbrella, we are grateful to grow our educational programs. We love that the students will be able to teach us, and we them!
This year, we are going to play with ‘spicing’ up the flowerpots around downtown Athens! We are excited to add some different plants and elements to make the Square more festive for everyone to enjoy as they shop and dine. Who doesn’t love fall pumpkins and gourds, especially after this summer’s heat! Cooler days and night are ahead, and we are more than ready! We will be adding a little pumpkin spice this year, if you will.
We are also going to be adding more pots because downtown Athens has exploded. We will be reintroducing the Downtown Memorial Pots fundraiser again soon (within the next month or so). If you have someone you would like to honor or memorialize with a beautifully planted (and large) flowerpot, this is your chance. We will have personalized plaques again to add to each flowerpot. Keep an eye out for the advertisement — locations of pots will be limited and VERY specific. The locations will be assigned on a first-come basis. We still need to do a little more planning, but we will be ready soon!
If you are interested in getting your hands a little dirty, we would love to have you! We will be removing the current plantings on Thursday, September 26. The Ag students will be taking the plants back to school to get cuttings to start new plants. We will be planting the fresh, fall pots on Friday, September 27. We will start around 10 a.m. both days. You can call or email for more information if you think this might be a volunteer organization for you!
***Don’t Forget that Shred Day is Saturday, September 21, at Athens State University from 9 a.m.-noon!
By: Claire Tribble – Executive Director, Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful