Meeting is first step toward keeping Llano beautiful
Llano County Courthouse. DailyTrib.com
DANIEL CLIFTON • EDITOR
LLANO — The city of Llano is one of the most beautiful communities in Texas. On July 13, a group is gathering in an effort to make it even more beautiful.
A Keep Llano Beautiful organizational meeting is 5:30-7:30 p.m. that Thursday at the Llano Chamber of Commerce, 100 Train Station Drive. Everyone is welcome.
“Keep Texas Beautiful has been around since the ’80s, I believe,” chamber Executive Director Briley Mitchell said. “Llano tried to become one of the (affiliates) a couple of years ago, but it just never happened.”
When Mitchell reached out once more to Keep Texas Beautiful, the state organization was more than willing to renew the process for Llano. Which brings us to the July 13 meeting, a big step toward becoming a Keep Texas Beautiful affiliate.
Mitchell said becoming part of Keep Texas Beautiful, which is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, opens up more funding options for beautification projects in Llano.
Plus, Keep Llano Beautiful can jump on board with a couple of the state organization’s most popular programs: the Great American Cleanup and Keep Texas Waterways Clean. Once the Llano affiliate is up and running, Mitchell hopes to hold city and Llano River cleanups each year.
The three main pillars of the Keep Texas Beautiful campaign are cleanups, conservation, and recycling.
While becoming part of the state network is important for many reasons, one of Mitchell’s main hopes is that it will encourage residents to take pride in their community by picking up litter, properly disposing of unwanted items, recycling, and keeping the river clean.
He recalled driving across the Texas 16 bridge over the Llano River, looking down into Grenwelge Park, and spotting a picnic table covered in trash, even though there was a nearby trash bin. A recent rain added to the mess.
Mitchell made his way to the table to pick up the trash.
“It doesn’t take much to clean up,” he said. “The trash can was five feet from the table. Don’t know why they just didn’t throw it away.”
Through Keep Llano Beautiful efforts and outreach, Mitchell believes people will become more aware of their community’s beauty and want to preserve it.
Call the chamber at (325) 247-5354 for more information on the meeting and Keep Llano Beautiful. Go to ktb.org for more information on Keep Texas Beautiful.
