PGA city spruce up

[tulsa1603]

I had to pick up a friend at the airport this morning.  I must say, they are doing a heck of a job sprucing the place up.  I noticed the new potted plants along the curbside pick-up area last weekend when I flew home, but today they were cleaning the windows, mulching, planting flowers, etc.  And since we had all the rain earlier this summer, everything is still green and lush.  All the medians are cleaned up or are being cleaned up for the entire drive from downtown.  They were streetsweeping the debris off the shoulders on I-244...  Something about all this activity made me feel good.  I just wish it could happen all the time.  They even patched all the potholes on the airport pick-up and drop off lanes and painted the Hwy 11 bridge.  How much of a sales tax increase would it take to keep this level of activity up so that our whole town could look this nice all the time?  How much did this extra effort cost?  What would it take to do this a few times a year?

[RecycleMichael]

I completely agree that the crews have done a remarkable job. Everybody in Public Works at the city and the highway cres from the state have been working round the clock to get Tulsa looking good.

I was real worried around the fourth of July that we were going to look like a jungle, but these workers deserve a pat on the back for getting the job done.

There are still opportunities to help out. We have volunteers going to six different areas tomorrow morning and picking up litter. My son and I are going to go to two different sites and my mother and my niece are going to one.

Come join us. It is a great way to instill civic pride in your children and do some good for all of our collective pride in the community.  

Here is more info...

http://www.cityoftulsa.org/News/60minutemakeover.asp

Tulsa's 60-Minute Makeover Seeks Volunteers for City-Wide Beautification
TULSA – Mayor Kathy Taylor has announced a city-wide beautification effort, Tulsa's 60 Minute Makeover. The first event of the effort will take place on Saturday, Aug. 4 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The announcement was made during a press conference at Howard Park, 2510 Southwest Boulevard, this morning.

During the makeover, Taylor asks all residents and business owner to donate 60 minutes of their time to clean up their neighborhoods and places of businesses. Volunteers can collect litter, pick weeds, and edge sidewalks at six selected Tulsa locations or in their own neighborhoods or business locations. "The effects of continual rains over the last two months are still evident everywhere. Our Public Works mowing crews have been working hard to get back on track after weeks of rain delay. Now we need to ask Tulsans to step up and show their city pride by helping us put our best foot forward," Taylor said. "I urge all Tulsans to devote at least 60 minutes of their Saturday to the makeover."

"The timing couldn't be better," Taylor added. "Tulsa is about to host the PGA, and thousands of visitors will be in town. Millions more will see Tulsa on their televisions during the tournament week. What a great spark to get this new program started as we put a fresh face on Tulsa." Participants will assemble at one of six locations, then either clean up at that site or pick up bags and gloves to go into another location. The staging areas and clean up locations are

Johnson Park (61st and Riverside Drive) for 61st Street from Riverside Drive to Peoria Avenue

Howard Park (2510 Southwest Blvd.), Southwest Blvd from Howard Park to 41st West Avenue

Sonic Drive-In, (1600 N. Peoria Ave.) for Peoria from Pine to Mohawk

Gilcrease School, (5500 N. Cincinnati), North Cincinnati from 46th Street North to 56th Street North

3624 N. 74th E. Ave., Port Road from Sheridan to Mingo

900 S. Mingo,  Mingo Channel from Admiral to 11th Street

In the event of rain, a make up date for the makeover will be held on Aug. 5 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tulsa Businesses are urged to be sure their areas are mowed and trimmed as well. Beautification does not stop on Aug. 4th and Mayor Taylor is encouraging that Tulsans stay involved. To register to clean a site, call the M.e.t. at 584-0584. For anyone wishing to organize a community clean up on another day during the week, call the M.e.t. to pick up bags and gloves.

Volunteers also needed to help Up with Trees

Volunteers also are needed to help with maintenance at Up With Tree sites. Those interested can contact the organization at 610-TREE. Up With Trees, a Tulsa non-profit, has planted some 18,000 trees in the Tulsa area and maintains about 450 tree sites, most along highways and city streets.

"Typically, the city or state does the major mowing, and Up With Trees does the weed trimming and finishes mowing around the trees," said Executive Director Anna America. "We have two staff field supervisors and the rest of the work is done by volunteers, so it's a challenge to keep caught up even under normal circumstances - with all of the rain, we are working everyone even harder, and we certainly appreciate any help the public can offer." Up With Trees can use two kinds of volunteers. "Professionals" -- landscape companies, professional mowers, etc., who have some expertise and their own equipment -- could volunteer to tackle an entire site (usually about 20 trees).

"We can't let unsupervised volunteers go onto the highway to do sites, but we have a list of spots that can be trimmed without parking on the highway that they could help with," America said. In addition, individuals can volunteer to go out for part of the day with the supervised crews, which work 7 am-2:30 pm every day including weekends. For more information, call the Up With Trees office at 610-TREE.

[TheArtist]

Does anyone have any good connections or pull to try and get the weather to be a bit cooler?  That would really make a difference too.

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

Does anyone have any good connections or pull to try and get the weather to be a bit cooler?  That would really make a difference too.

Who knows.  I seem to recall some big thing about the State looking into "Cloud seeding" some time back.  Perhaps they could "cloud seed" some shade for the PGA.

[RecycleMichael]

The cleanup day was a major success.

I saw at least a couple a hundred people, probably closer to three hundred people cleaning up public property Saturday morning. There were also an equal number of people sprucing up their own property that I saw.

Lots of good folks, too. I saw state Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, a couple of dozen firefighters, neighborhood leaders, college students and more. Blogger Steve Roemerman was out with his family and three generations of my family picked up along Mingo creek. My son found a very nice flashlight that still had good batteries and told the story to reporter Joshua Brakhage from channel 6. Sierra Club member Mike Bialis probably got the most trash by doing 11th street right-of-ways.

I saw people in south Tulsa, west Tulsa, north Tulsa and east Tulsa. I saw folks on Riverside drive, north Peoria, Route 66 and around the Broken Arrow expressway exit ramps.

The town looks amazingly better. We should keep it that way. The mayor said the next cleanup day is scheduled for October. I hope to see many of you there.