“Make It Shine” Roadside Clean-up Campaign Kicks Off in Pocahontas County

Cara Rose of the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau enlightens us about the second annual “West Virginia Make it Shine Campaign,” which will again clean-up litter from our roadsides.

“The West Virginia Make It Shine Campaign is kicking off on Earth Day, which is April 22^nd, running through May 15^th this year,” Rose said. “As listeners may recall, last year the CVB implemented a new roadside clean-up campaign, and we are asking that organizations, groups, non-profits, and even individual businesses, sign up to do road clean-up in Pocahontas County during that time period. What we really want to do is foster a litter-free community, and by offering this incentive, we are able to educate our youth about the value of not littering.”

“The CVB will contribute a hundred dollars per mile, up to one-hundred miles, to organizations and non-profits here in the county” Rose explained, “for instance, if a 4H club chooses to clean-up three miles along route 39, they record that information, take some pictures and submit that to the CVB, we will contribute three-hundred dollars back to that organization. If a private business would like to sponsor a section of highway, they do the same thing: they register with the CVB, they provide proof of the clean-up. And we will contribute the funds back to a non-profit organization or club here in the county. So, it is a way for us to give back to our communities, as well, and to get our roadsides cleaned up. So it a total of ten-thousand dollars back to our community during this campaign.”

“Right now, I have about seventy miles registered officially, so we have about thirty more miles left to get registered for the county,” Rose pointed out. “We provide the supplies as well, so we’ll provide the bags, gloves, pickers, and we have assigned dumpsters around the county -in Marlinton, Snowshoe and Green Bank.”

“We’re really excited about this, and we should all be proud of how beautiful our area is,” Rose said. “Litter is an issue, everywhere. This is at least one way to work toward creating that litter-free community.”

Was this clean-up program a success last year?

“Yea, last year was very successful,” Rose answered. “It was the first year we did it. We had the County Commission also contribute to the fund, so we had about thirteen-thousand dollars to contribute to the campaign. We did clean-up almost one-hundred and forty miles of roadside. So, I think we were one of the most successful clean-up campaigns in the state, really.”

Cara, can you also tell us about how the county’s Bicentennial Celebration is coming along?

“We are celebrating two-hundred years of Pocahontas County!” said Rose. “Coming up in May, we have several events. On May 14^th, we have a High Tea at the Green Bank Library, at 2:00 pm. On May 20^th, which is a Friday, we have Huntersville Education Day all day-long and a Hunters Feast that evening, and then on May 21^st, we have a High Tea and stories, at the Hillsboro Library at 2:00 pm.”

“The official Bicentennial Programs are available as well,” added Rose. “We have the full shipment at the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Office, so anybody who’s wanting to pick up copies of the program, you can stop by. You can pick up bulk amounts as well, if you want them for your businesses or attractions. We’ll also be happy to mail them out. And, for all out listeners who ordered an ornament ahead of time, the ornaments arrived yesterday. So, we have the official – limited edition Bicentennial Ornament. They are available for pick-up and for purchase, at the Visitors Bureau Office in Marlinton. They are twenty-dollars if you pick them up, if you would like us to mail them, they are twenty-five dollars. You can take care of that over the phone; you can stop in the office, and you can also order on-line at pocahontas200.com.’

Thank you, Cara. The Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau is a business supporter of Allegheny Mountain Radio.