HCCC News: November 26, 2018
The Volunteer Recognition Edition!
Hampton is filled with citizens who step up and make a difference in so many different aspects of our community. We’re oh-so-thankful for those who help keep Hampton clean & green!
Hampton Environmental Excellence Awards
Bert Carr Adopt-A-Spot Environmental Excellence Award Winner: Marnita Edwards
Marnita served on the Delta Sigma Theta Hampton Alumnae Chapter Adopt-a-Spot Committee for many years, the designated area is Armistead Avenue from Pembroke Avenue to Settler's Landing. She became chair of the committee in 2010. The chapter received many awards - Extra Mile Awards 2011, 2013, and 2014 and Golden Litter Stick Awards 2015-2018. She encourages the chapter members to clean up in their neighborhoods, and many decided to clean around their homes, apartments, and townhouses. Her positive attitude, beautiful smile, and motivation to serve and improve the city’s physical environment is second to none - outstanding. According to Marnita, “Come snow, sleet, rain, hot or cold, we are out there cleaning, picking up trash, and cigarette butts.” “Sometimes, we are prisoners of TRASH!”
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Mary Jo Hogge Water Quality Environmental Excellence Award Winner: Claire Neubert
Claire has been the fearless leader of Hampton Waterways Restoration Project for the past several years. She organized meetings (made agendas, invited guests, planned snacks/gifts), chairs one of the oyster restoration sites, co-chairs the cigarette butt project, participates in water quality monitoring, and organizes various activities. Over the past 5+ years, Claire has been involved in numerous activities to help educate Hampton residents and is willing to get her hands dirty to work alongside others to help keep Hampton a livable place. Claire also served on numerous HCCC committees, including the Clean & Green Workplaces Committee, Volunteer Recognition Committees, Fundraising Committee, and more.
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Harriet Storm Education Environmental Excellence Award Winner: Carol King
Carol King was instrumental in the expansion of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Hampton Master Gardeners' demonstration garden and the establishment of an arboretum at Bluebird Gap Farm. She also coordinates tree tours in partnership with HCCC, and served as a YARDS judge for several years. She continues to lead the Master Gardeners in their outreach and educational programs from 2005 to the present.
Hampton Clean City Awards
Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Waterways: 633 CES – Environmental
Langley 633 CES – Environmental annually leads Langley Air Force Base in Clean the Bay Day, Arbor Day, Earth Week, and America Recycles Day. The group offers educational opportunities: oyster gardening, rain barrel workshops, storm drain marking, habitat restoration, and other activities. Members are committed to litter prevention and hold several mass annual recycling events.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Beautification: Jim Bartlett
Through the years 2016 – 2018 Jim Bartlett has been gardening with Hampton Community Gardens, he has taken on many leadership roles. He has mentored numerous gardeners and humbly shares his experience and knowledge with any who ask. Jim maintains the equipment and taught a class on maintenance for us. We appreciate his input and assistance! In addition, Jim and his wife Margaret are enthusiastic supporters of the HCCC Adopt-A-Spot program.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Beautification: Shirley Boyd
Shirley is a Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, leader and member of the Yards Are Really Distinctive Showplaces Contest, and is active with Beautification, Hampton Waterways Restoration Project, and Litter & Recycling Awareness Committee. She has served on numerous HCCC committees, including Volunteer Recognition and Budget, and was a board member for two terms.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Water Quality: Dandy Haven Marina
Dandy Haven Marina, located on the Back River, is a big supporter of the environment – they host oyster gardening for the Hampton Waterways Restoration Project, schools, and others. They also promote and support environmental education, clean-up (by shore and boat), and other endeavors, and have done so for years.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Reduce/Reuse/Recycle: JBLE - Langley
Langley Air Force Base, even before it became part of Joint Base Langley Eustis, has worked diligently on decreasing/reducing waste, toxic chemicals, and pollution by implementing greener solutions. The Command requires all personnel to take environmental management system training annually. Rain water is utilized for irrigation. Med-Safe program eliminates thousands of pounds of drugs from waste steam.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Water Quality: Melany Libby
Melany spends countless hours supporting the efforts of HCCC, especially with her support of HWRP. She works constantly to help prevent debris from getting in the water. She even stops her car on occasion to pick up litter and debris. She participates in oyster gardening, water quality monitoring, litter cleanups, weekly oyster shell collections, and various outreach events to help improve the environment. Melany also recruited her mom and neighbor to participate in litter-free event activities at Grooving by the Bay on Sundays from late July through September.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Litter Prevention: Litter & Recycling Awareness Committee
This committee works tirelessly to help prevent litter from entering the waterways through storm drains. The members hold monthly clean ups, help coordinate an annual community appearance and litter index, and sponsor a variety of litter-free and educational events. Members also participate in a schools appearance index annually and meet to think of ways to educate and get the message out about littering and recycling.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Environmental Education: Moton Early Childhood Center
Moton Early Childhood Center devotes an entire week to environmental education, calling it "I Love the Earth". Teachers discuss litter, recycling, and how to protect the Earth during this week. We have HCCC bring an educational story to the students. We end our week by having an Earth Day Parade. Throughout the year we teach the students about litter and recycling.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Litter Prevention: NoSleep Entertainment
NoSleep Entertainment has taken great pride in making sure their adopted spot, Mill Point Park, looks the best that it can. They have gone out in the rain when they see there is trash or after an event has been held there. Members will drive by and stop to pick up trash and all the cigarette butts to keep it clean; they also report maintenance issues when they find them.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Litter Prevention: One Love CommUNITY
Gabe Diaz, leader of One Love CommUNITY, has been working hard to keep River Street Park looking beautiful for all to use. The group cleans the site frequently and stays in contact with the Pasture Point neighborhood to make sure they always know what’s going on. They also report maintenance issues when they find them.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Environmental Education: Jamie Osso
Jamie Osso has been a member of the HCCC for many years. She volunteers to prevent litter and debris from entering the Chesapeake Bay by participating in group and individual cleanups and participating in HWRP activities. Jamie has served on the HCCC board for two terms and has volunteered many years for HCCC. She participates in waterway cleanups, YARDS Contest judging, and environmental education in classroom. She has participated in many committees to help make Hampton clean and beautiful, including the Volunteer Recognition committee. She taught many years encouraging and teaching environmental education. She continues to stress it. She practices what she teaches by participating in groups and works individually to keep the waterways clean.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Litter Prevention: Pat Parker
Pat has chaired the litter committee for 20+ years. With her leadership the committee has expanded its area of interest to include recycling awareness. Members have sponsored litter-free events, community cleanups, and educational displays. Pat participates in many HCCC events, including the litter and schools indexes, volunteer recognition committees, and others.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for HCCC Support: Teresa Schmidt
Teresa Schmidt provided outstanding support for HCCC including supporting the efforts of HWRP. This includes her and her husband, Leonard, buying and facilitating the installation of a littering prevention sign, and providing critical support for HWRP's Seafood Appreciation Tour. Teresa also provided encouragement and advice for HCCC while serving as the Council Liaison.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Reduce/Reuse/Recycle: SKF Lubrication
SKF Lubrication has undertaken an extensive environmental improvement program. They recycle bulbs and batteries. They use online forms to reduce paper, installed motion sensors to reduce electricity, installed some LED bulbs in shop and offices, recycle scrap metal, and recycle all computers and monitors at VersAbility Resources. They try consistently to improve their recycling program. Some of the ways they try to reduce waste in the landfill and protect the environment: installed motion sensors to reduce electricity; installed some LED bulbs in shop and offices; recycle scrap metal; recycle oily water, used oil, and grease; recycle razor blades; removed lead in the soldering processes; use more paper packaging material for shipping products; removed styrofoam cups and replaced them with paper cups; removed straws from the break room.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for HCCC Support: Loye Spencer
Loye Spencer taught environmental education in the schools and has been a HCCC volunteer approximately 30 years. She is training to be a Chesapeake Bay Water Steward. Among other activities, she participates in oyster gardening, litter cleanups, and Chesapeake Bay education efforts. She teaches Hampton school classes for HCCC, runs the YARDS Contest, and participates in the Adopt-A-Spot program. She serves on the Hampton Waterways Restoration Project, Beautification, and Litter & Recycling Awareness Committees. She is a highly competent Master Naturalist and a Hampton Master Gardener. She heads up the HCCC YARDS program by seeing that all yard nominees are notified as to when the YARDS Committee of Judges visits their yards. She gives excellent yard maintenance ideas to YARDS Contest nominees. She was also honored by Hampton City Council for her outstanding work for almost 30 years with the HCCC.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for HCCC Support: Marty Tennille
Marty Tennille has volunteered for HCCC since 1987 in all areas of the HCCC, and has contributed monetarily and physically to the cause. She has served on nearly all committees over time, including business, litter prevention, and yards/ beautification committee. She was honored by City Council for her long service. She continues to work to prevent litter in her neighborhood and other areas in the city. She has contributed several thousand dollars to the group over time. She is a past board member of the HCCC. She is currently serving on several HCCC Committees including the Fundraising Committee and the 40th Anniversary Committee. She participated in both schools and community indexes. She also attended the national Keep America Beautiful convention in Washington D.C.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Environmental Education: Jim Williams
Jim Williams has been a member of HCCC since 1994. He started Tour de Trash in 1994; led the YARDS Contest renewal in 1995; served on the board in the mid 2000s; he helped keep the organization going in 2005 when the coordinator was ill; served in advisory capacity on board for more than a decade; volunteers for youth education efforts; and leads workplace committee now. He has been involved in a variety of organizational development activities for HCCC, including volunteer training, organizational development strategic planning, and more.
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Hampton Clean City Award Winner for Beautification: YARDS Contest Judges
The YARDS Contest Judges have worked extremely hard to help encourage beautification and environmental improvements in Hampton. The group is self-organized and divides the responsibilities for the YARDS Contest among themselves. HCCC volunteers were able to partner with the Hampton Master Gardeners to encourage membership with a high level of expertise. We all put in many hours to make the Yards Judging a success. The program results in competition among residents to win the Yard of the Month contest annually.
Hampton Yard of the Year Award
Hampton Yard of the Year Award Winner: Allena Whippo, Adriatic Circle
Congratulations also to Yard of the Month Winner Vicky Moyer and Honorable Mention Yard Winners Jan & Walter Spencer and Janet Tucker.
Hampton Green School Awards
Eaton Middle School
Field trips to Fort Monroe and Grandview Beach; organic gardening; HELP cohort with Chesapeake Bay Foundation; a food composting program; rain barrels for water conservation; a recycling program; campus cleanups; and an herb garden are just a few of the highlights of the green activities going on at Eaton Middle School.
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Gloria Dei Middle School
Highlights of Gloria Dei Middle School green activities: Students conduct litter cleanups of the school campus and front wooded area; recycling/waste reduction activities are conducted across multiple grade levels, the grade 3 lab focuses on learning "the 3 Rs", as well as learning about how materials are processed; middle school students recycle paper and plastic in designated bins throughout the school year and especially during locker clean-outs; third grade does a worm bin composting program using lunch scraps and the compost created is spread by the students in school gardens; energy conservation education in Grade 6 studies renewable / nonrenewable resources, rising energy needs in the U.S. & renewable energy/nonrenewable energy sources (with examination of pros/cons for each); students study the effects of air, water, and land pollution and learn to read the Air Quality Index, and study the process of coal mining and land reclamation; water quality or conservation activities include fifth grade labs that focus on Chesapeake Bay Studies throughout the year, which includes learning about water quality, litter prevention, and entanglement through education, simulation, and making posters to educate other students. Environmental education opportunities include recognition of Earth Day, with various projects and areas of study. The 6th grade makes their own recycled paper; the Woodworking & Landscaping class made bird feeders & birdhouses. They also raked and prepared the school campus flowerbeds and planted in the various flowerbeds and planters.
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Kecoughtan High School
Kecoughtan High School’s Green School highlights included: oyster gardening; a senior project to solve problems of mulch overflow on a walk-way; plant rescues from an area scheduled for construction; Earth Day activities including a banner that students signed pledging to help the Earth; participated in Walk Hampton Clean; participating in plastic bag and regular recycling programs; added edging to Butterfly Garden to prevent runoff of mulch; and added more native flowers to butterfly garden.
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Langley Elementary School
Langley Elementary School’s green school highlights include: Students educated through classroom learning, announcements on our morning newscasts, and Green team activities; newsletters went home to families with a monthly environmental article (Green News You Can Use); recycling more than 12,800 pounds through the school recycling program; recycling plastic bags and Crayola markers; regular cleanups of school grounds; and establishment of a new Bee Club, with a beehive installed, the student bee club learns and then educates on Langley Morning Newscast, and planting bee-friendly shrubs, vines, and plants.
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Phenix PreK - 8 School
Phenix School green school activities included: paper/cardboard and plastic bags recycling, coming in 2nd in their division in the TREX Plastic Challenge; the garden is completed and ready for fall planting; the school’s oyster babies have grown and should be ready for transplanting this fall; Meatless Mondays were promoted throughout the school; Earth Week included School Spirit Days with environmentally related themes; and the Green Team went on a Tour de Trash and engaged in other environmental activities.
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Phoebus High School
Phoebus High School green school activities included: establishment of a vegetable garden; receipt of a $75,000 grant for a hydroponic greenhouse to further our farm to table instruction; students participated in 6 field trips for meaningful watershed field educational experiences; students also raised oysters that were planted in a reef in conjunction with River Keepers of Virginia Inc.; and students raised two generations of butterflies and released them to our gardens.
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Spratley Gifted Center
Spratley Gifted Center green school activities included: students took multiple field trips related to environmental education (Sandy Bottom, South River Waynesboro, Landfill, Ft Monroe Beach, Wood's Orchard for pumpkin and strawberry picking, Hampton University's science lab, boat trip on the James River, oyster release at Elizabeth Lake); students participated in 15-Minute Litter Pick-up Challenge; the Ecology Club held weekly meetings that involved recycling collection, crafts, guest speakers, litter pick ups, and planting flowers; students participated in International Coastal Clean up, Clean the Bay Day, and other community activities; the schoolyard habitat was used extensively for a variety of lessons; students conducted water quality monitoring during field trips; at the schoolyard habitat, the Grade levels have square foot vegetable gardens and maintain a butterfly garden in courtyard; and 4th graders raise trout from eggs for release, while other students raise oysters for release.
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Schools achieving Honorable Mention Green School Awards were:
- Asbury Elementary School
- Burbank Elementary School
- Jones Magnet Middle School
- Moton Early Childhood Center
Hampton Adopt-A-Spot Awards
Golden Litter Stick Award Winners (cleaned 20 or more times in the past year)
Bellgrade Good Neighbors (26 times)
Marilyn Burney (37 times)
Hampton Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (22 times)
Hampton Citizens Police Academy Alumni Volunteers (129 times)
Langley Air Force Base 733 LRS/Fuels Management Flight (21 times)
Spratley Gifted Center Ecology Club (32 times)
Wesley United Methodist Church.
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Extra Mile Award Winners (cleaned 10 to 19 times in the past year)
The Chain Gang (16 times)
Elizabeth Lake Estates Morning Walkers (16 times)
The Exchange Club of Wythe (11 times)
The Fladger Family (11 times)
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Gamma Omega Chapter (11 times)
Jack Rezabek & Corlease Sills (10 times)
The Schultz Family (12 times)
Smith Family of Baker’s Farm (16 times)
Tidemill Machen Community Association (13 times)
Zeta Omicron Chapter, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (15 times)
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Honorable Mention Award Winners (cleaned 5 - 9 times in the past year)
Jim & Margaret Bartlett (7 times)
Buckroe Improvement League (8 times)
Downtown Hampton Exchange Club (5 times)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church (5 times)
Hampton Roads Networking Exchange Club (8 times)
Men of 78 USS Gerald R Ford (6 times)
One Love CommUNITY (6 times)
Phoebus United Methodist Men (9 times)
The Romero Family (7 times)
United Christian Brotherhood (7 times)
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Rho Alpha Chapter (6 times)