From David Pope (the trash
dude)Hello again, San Bernard River Folks.
I've just returned from the 39th
annual "Keep Texas Beautiful"
conference, held in Plano, Texas the last week of
June. The conference was a great experience, both the
very informative workshops and the awards ceremonies.
It was attended by an estimated 550 people from all
around Texas. Many Brazoria County affiliates attended
and brought home various awards for their communities'
efforts.
Richwood and Alvin were each
winners of the coveted " Governor's
Community Achievement Award ". This award went to 9
different winning communities and was accompanied with
landscaping monetary awards. In addition, several other
Brazoria County affiliates were recognized. Angleton
and Lake Jackson were winners of the " Sustained
Excellence Award ". Alvin and Richwood won the " Award
of Excellence ". Clute took home the " Certificate of
Merit ".
Before and during the conference,
I attended many training workshops, hosted by Keep
Texas Beautiful, law enforcement agencies, corporate
sponsors and legal organizations. Here’s a brief
rundown on the workshops I attended (I brought home lots
of handouts and training materials).
Stop Trashing Texas - It's the
Law:
This was a workshop where I
learned much about the laws about littering and dumping.
I earned a certificate from the Keep Texas Beautiful
Association, as well as six hours of continuing
education credit.
Water IQ :
Know your water. This is the
brand and slogan for the "Texas Water Awareness
Educational Program". This training covered water
quality and conservation issues, including water usage
from our rivers.
Water
Wise:
This workshop covered the
educational program " Water Wise ", which was about
water conservation in your home and yard. The program
provides teachers (5th -
6th grade) with educational materials and kits for the
students
.
Extend
your 15 minutes of fame:
This was presented by Award
winning Dallas TV Reporter Jeff Crilley, about news
coverage, press releases, how and when to get your news
coverage and how to really get the press to come to you
as an expert.
Once
Upon A Time - the art of public speaking:
Presented
by Mary Gordon Spence of Austin. This workshop covered
how to develop your message and deliver it like a pro.
Employment
Law and Volunteer Management:
This workshop was about laws and insurance
issues with staff and volunteers to 501(c)3's and
included hiring, firing and the maintenance of
employee/volunteers records.
How
to start a Not for Profit Organization in Texas:
Presented by Texas C-Bar, a non-profit legal
organization that assist groups setting up and operating
501(c)3’s
in Texas at no cost.
The
Grant writing process for 501(c)3 Organizations:
Presented by Dallas Nonprofit
Resources. How to put together development plans that
work. How to organize and write grant proposals. How
to research to find fund raisers that are right for your
group, how to make schedules and stay organized.
I
met with most of the Brazoria County " Keep Texas
Beautiful " affiliates who attended during the breaks,
luncheons and workshops. I’ve have been asked to speak
to several groups and help set up a cleanup event for
Oyster Creek based on the San Bernard's successful river
cleanups in 2005 and 2006.
But the highlight of the event
was a one on one meeting with keynote Speaker Chad
Pregracke. He has set up an organization " Living Lands
and Waters " that is: cleaning up the Mississippi,
Missouri and Illinois rivers on a large scale. We talked
about the Abandon/Submerged Vessel Removal project for
Brazoria County and many issues about it. He was very
impressed with the project, its planning and funding
request. Chad even offered to send his tug and barge
down to Brazoria next winter to help for 90 days.
Unfortunately, logistics didn't work (transportation
takes too long). However, he has committed to travel
down to help/speak and provide support to this effort.
I may travel up to the Midwest later this summer to
volunteer for a week on his floating work barge to learn
all I can about the technical issues as well as
volunteer management on such a large scale.
I also met with U.S.
Representative Pete Sessions (Texas) about our river
mouth issue. Representative Sessions is on many very
important committees in Washington and is very active in
Texas Environmental issues.
I would be glad to cover any of
these workshops if you would like more details.
See you on the
river..........................
References:
http://www.ktb.org/programs/conference/index.htm
http://www.ktb.org/index.htm
www.livinglandsandwaters.org
http://sessions.house.gov
