CULLMAN, Ala. – The 2019 Cullman County People Against a Littered State (PALS) Beautification Awards were presented to several area businesses, schools and civic organizations Thursday afternoon at a luncheon at Camp Meadowbrook. This year’s winners were selected by PALS, based on the scores tabulated by the Jefferson County Master Gardeners.
Cullman County PALS is a nonprofit organization with the goal of “helping to make our community a pleasant place to visit, shop, play and live.” The purpose of the awards themselves, according to PALS, is to “recognize the efforts of the many businesses that work hard to make the Cullman area a beautiful place for everyone to enjoy.”
Cullman County PALS Chairperson Cherrie Haney thanked the Cullman County Soil & Water Conservation District for hosting the awards ceremony and Freddie Day for catering the event. This is the fourth year PALS has managed the Beautification Awards since taking over the tradition previously run by the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce.
The 2019 PALS Beautification Award recipients are:
- Buena Vista
- Camp Meadowbrook
- Cullman City Board of Education
- Cullman County Museum
- Cullman County Courthouse
- Cullman Electric Cooperative
- Cullman High School
- Cullman City Primary School
- Cullman Regional
- East Elementary School
- Cullman County Master Gardeners
- Merchants Bank- main branch
- Peoples Bank- Dodge City
- Peoples Bank- drive-thru
- Peoples Bank- main branch
- REHAU
- St. John’s Evangelical Church
- West Elementary School
- Webb Wheel Products, Inc.
- Wallace State Community College
Haney explained, “We don’t get the same judges each year. Tony Glover with the (Cullman County) Extension Office gets our judges for us. They do an excellent job. They critique things to a T, though. You gotta remember, they are master gardeners. They do brag on the drive-thru, but the top score was Peoples Bank main office and REHAU. They were within points of each other.”
Clean Campus Awards
PALS Clean Campus Awards Coordinator Rhonda Van Zandt presented the 2018-2019 Clean Campus Awards.
Said Van Zandt, “The Clean Campus Program is a part of PALS that offers a program to city and county schools and it involves not just keeping the campus clean but beautification and environmental education. Hopefully we can educate the children to the point that we’ll quit having to pick so much up off the side of our roads.”
Cullman County has had a Clean Campus Award winner at the state level for at least the past 15 years. For 2017-2018, Parkside School was awarded first place, Cullman City Primary School was awarded third place and Hanceville Elementary School received an honorable mention from the Alabama PALS.
The 2018-2019 Cullman County PALS Clean Campus Awards winners in the Elementary School Division are:
- First place- Hanceville Elementary
- Second place- Cullman City Primary School
The 2018-2019 Cullman County PALS Clean Campus Awards winner in the Middle School Division is Parkside School.
The overall trophy for all divisions was awarded to Parkside School.
Librarian April Smith accepted the awards for Parkside, saying, “We have a lot of people who help with it and we are really excited. Last year we won the first place for the state and I had never dreamed… This past year it was students and teachers. We just all got together and did little projects. The community has helped. Some volunteers from the church have come out and planted rose bushes and flower gardens. This is really important.”
Learn more about Cullman County PALS at www.facebook.com/CullmanCountyPALS. PALS meets on the third Thursday of each month at 8 a.m. at the Cullman County Economic Development office.
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