Members of Keep Gilmer Beautiful, a community beautification advisory board to the Gilmer Board of Commissioners, are looking to increase volunteerism in their Adopt-A-Road program during this new year.
Different sections of 24 roads in the county have already been adopted, but there are 19 other roads the group has prioritized in hopes of finding more volunteers willing to pick up litter, noted advisory board member Karen Vitelli.
“These (19 other) roads are arterial roads that are hard to keep clean because of the amount of traffic on them,” she added.
That list of roads includes sections of Boardtown, Roy, Big Creek, Doublehead Gap, Yukon, Old Tails Creek, White Path, Roundtop, Lucius, Craigtown, Gates Chapel, Conasauga, Blackberry Mountain, Burnt Mountain, Rock Creek, Whitestone North, Turniptown, Tower and Old Highway 5 South.
Vitelli added that a road does not have to be on the priority list to be adopted, nor do volunteers have to reside on the road they choose to pick up.
Ron Cheslock, a KGB board member who helped get the Adopt-A-Road program started here, explained that volunteers must agree to pick up litter along their assigned roadway at least once a quarter — a total of at least four times a year — for a minimum distance of 1 mile. Longer stretches of road can be adopted.
“We give them grabbers, vests and bags. They can take the (bagged litter) to the convenience centers at no charge. We also provide (road) signage with their organization’s name on there,” Cheslock added.
Pickup supplies are provided by the county road department, he noted.
“Whenever someone adopts a road, they get X-number of bags (and other supplies), as well as Litter Pickup in Progress signs they can put out,” said Susan Green, of the Gilmer Road Department. “After they do their pickup, they (file a report) to me and we put it in the computer and keep track of it.”
Cheslock said there are currently 62 groups and organizations involved in the program.
“We have local civic groups, businesses and individuals, as well as homeowners associations. The Lions Club (is a local civic group) that recently adopted a road. I am with the Friends of Zion Hill, which is made up of community members who want to keep that particular road clean,” he added.
Anyone interested in joining or learning more about the local Adopt-A- Road program can do so by visiting the organization’s website, KeepGilmerBeautiful.org, Cheslock said.
“There they can fill out a contact form that goes directly to one of our board members and someone will get in touch with them,” he added.
The Keep Gilmer Beautiful advisory board meets at 10 a.m. the fourth Friday of each month at the board of commissioners conference room, which is located in the county courthouse complex next to the voter registrar’s office.
“Everyone is welcome to come to our meetings,” Vitelli noted.