Keep Sherwood Beautiful sponsors youth art contest to help with spring cleanup
By Greg Rayburn / Editor / grayburn@sherwoodvoice.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:06 PM CST
Keep Sherwood Beautiful is working in conjunction with Keep Arkansas Beautiful to offer children an opportunity to showcase their art talents in the promotion of an upcoming community cleanup.
Betty Barnhardt, executive director of Keep Sherwood Beautiful, said this year’s Great American Cleanup will include a youth poster contest for students in grades K-5. Keep Arkansas Beautiful is sponsoring the poster contest to involve students and increase awareness of the Great American Cleanup in Arkansas and educate the public about the importance of a clean and beautiful community. Clean cities help enhance economic development and environmental quality of life, Barnhardt said.
“The cleanup is an annual spring event when communities focus on local beautification efforts, flower and tree plantings, park improvements, trail building, Main Street rehabilitations, litter pickups, and other activities in advance of the tourism/vacation and festival season,” Barnhardt said.
Prizes will be awarded in two divisions: Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5.
“KAB is providing gift certificates for the top three posters in each division,” Barnhardt said. “One poster per class can be submitted for state judging.”
Barnhardt said 4-H clubs, scout groups, church groups, and home schools are eligible to enter as well as students in Sherwood’s elementary schools. Contest entries are due by Monday. Winners will be recognized in their local communities by Keep Arkansas Beautiful and representatives of Arkansas’ Great American Cleanup.
Poster contest winners will be announced sometime in February. Sherwood’s spring cleanup is set for Saturday, April 10, at 9 a.m., at the Jack Evans Senior Citizens Center, Barnhardt said.
Barnhardt said Keep Sherwood Beautiful has also scheduled a ribbon cutting for Feb. 22 at Cherrywood Park to commemmorate the construction of a new fence.
Barnhardt said Wal-Mart provided the necessary financing for supplies, and workers for the city’s parks and recreation department supplied the labor.
The ribbon cutting will be the completion of a vision of Keep Sherwood Beautiful Founder Herschel Bowman who three years ago talked with children playing basetball at Cherrywood and asked them what could be done to improve the park.
The boys told him a chronic problem at Cherrywood was their basketballs bouncing off the court and going into the nearby lake.
Barnhardt said some children have gone into the lake to retrieve their basketballs. Now that the fence has been erected, their basketballs won’t go into the lake.
