Nashville's Jefferson Street/I-40 interchange before students paint mural.

Finished mural honoring 14 Fisk University Freedom Riders.

Nashville Host of Keep America Beautiful's Great American Cleanup^™ "Green Starts Here" Rally

Dark clouds and a continuous threat of rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Tennessee volunteers who arrived at the Bicentennial Mall on May 14 eager to paint over graffiti, plant new trees and flowers, and pick up litter on downtown streets and sidewalks.

Volunteers from East, West and Middle Tennessee were on hand to help landscape schools and public housing developments, upgrade a playground and complete an extension of Nashville’s Downtown Greenway for the Tennessee Great American Cleanup™ event, hosted by Metro Beautification & Environment and Keep Tennessee Beautiful. 

In addition to landscaping and litter cleanup projects in several North Nashville neighborhoods, the event also featured educational exhibits and a “Green Starts Here” rally and ceremony attended by state and local officials and nearly 350 Nashville elementary school students.

At the ceremony, Mayor Karl Dean, TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely, TDEC Commissioner Jim Fyke and other officials joined Keep America Beautiful President & CEO Matt McKenna to thank the volunteers for their efforts, and numerous sponsors for their financial support and in-kind donations.  McKenna also announced Metro Tree Foundation Board member Alice Ann Barge as a 2009 Presidential Volunteer Service Award winner.

Sponsors of the 2009 Great American Cleanup that exhibited at the Bicentennial Mall included National Sponsors such as: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Pepsi-Cola Company, Solo Cup Company and Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment. In total, there were over 30 booths representing a range of environmental programs. National sponsor Scotts Miracle-Gro donated truckloads of mulch, soil and other gardening products and partner Encore Azalea donated mature azalea bushes to the overall effort.

Following a free lunch for all participating volunteers, Tennessee Titans Mascot T-RAC and the school children led the crowd in a countdown to send workers back to their worksites for the afternoon project activities. 

Among the volunteer projects conducted were:

• Community Mural Art Project: Connecting Art & Graffiti
  Mural artist Michael Cooper and art students from Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, Pearl-Cohn and Big Picture High Schools painted a mural honoring the 14 Fisk University Freedom Riders near the 26th Avenue block of Jefferson Street and I-40. View a Powerpoint presentation (2.48MB) that takes you from the beginning of the mural project to its conclusion. (Sponsored by Neighborworks America, Affordable Housing Resources, Public Works and Metro Beautification, and the Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership, Inc. - J.U.M.P.)
  
• Metro Action Commission/Head Start School Greening Project
  Volunteers completely re-landscaped the exterior environment with new trees, shrubs and plantings.  Located at 1634 5th Avenue North, the facility serves Metro residents who need temporary assistance with rent and utility bills. The Head Start pre-schoolers participated in the lunchtime rally and ceremony at Bicentennial Mall. (Sponsored by Dwight Beard & Beard Property Maintenance, Inc.)
  
• Historic Cheatham Place, 1564 9th Avenue North
  New trees and annual bedding plants were installed around the Community Center and at the stone entrances of this housing development.  Volunteers also refurbished the playground equipment and grounds. (Sponsored by Metro Development & Housing Authority)
  
• Hope Gardens Community Center and Gardens, 10th Avenue N & Jackson Street
  Areas around the Community Center were cleaned up, along with weeding, new plantings and litter collection in this historic neighborhood bordered by Jefferson Street, Rosa L Parks Blvd, Herman Street and I-40. (Sponsored by Hope Gardens Neighborhood and Metro Beautification & Environment)
  
• Graffiti Removal & Lot Cleanup
  Volunteers cut and trimmed the area around an abandoned pizza building at the corner of Dr. DB Todd/18th Ave & Jefferson. Weather prevented re-painting efforts, but the building was pressure-washed for graffiti removal later. (Sponsored by J.U.M.P.)
  
• North Branch Carnegie Library, 1001 Monroe Street
  Built in 1915, this historic structure received a landscaping facelift that included multiple plantings and tree mulch. Volunteers also painted outside doors, railings, light poles and an after hours book drop box. (Sponsored by Gardens of Babylon and Metro Nashville Public Library.)
  
• Buena Vista Enhanced Option School, 1531 9th Avenue North
  Supervised by professional arborists, volunteers removed dead and decaying trees, planted new trees, annuals and azaleas on the school campus, and also placed woodchips in a playground area.  A bench and picnic table made from natural Tennessee hardwoods were also constructed and installed. (Sponsored by Arbor Art Tree Care Inc. and Steve Sirls)
  
• Downtown Greenway Extension @ Morgan Park
  More than 100 crape myrtle trees and 75 azaleas were planted by volunteers to extend the greenway at North Morgan Park. (Sponsored by Metro Parks & Recreation)

Nashville was one of three cities selected by Keep America Beautiful to host a national spotlight event during the Great American Cleanup™ effort.  Waveland, Miss., and New York previously hosted 2009 national events. Keep America Beautiful sponsors the Great American Cleanup™ from March 1 through May 31 to mobilize millions of volunteers for community improvement projects in all 50 states. 

For more information about the Nashville "Green Starts Here" Rally, read Jenny Upchurch's story in The Tennessean