As spring blooms in Athens, the town’s cherry blossom trees, hiking trails and greenery invite locals and Ohio University Bobcats to relish in the relaxing atmosphere and enjoy the outdoors.
April not only symbolizes springtime in the neighborhood but also welcomes Athens Beautification Month, a time in which residents and Bobcats are encouraged to give back to the environment.
The Center for Community Engagement teams up with the Office of Sustainability each year to coordinate the events, all of which focus on areas of need. Courtney Lefebvre, associate director for community engagement, was hired in 2019 and did not witness an in-person beautification celebration until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Historically, Athens Beautification Day has been a really long-standing tradition with OU and the community of Athens,” Lefebvre said.
What started as a team of 20 student leaders hosting Athens Beautification Day evolved in 2021 to a month of service opportunities for students and residents led by OU’s Center for Community Engagement and the city.
“We tried to flip the script and open it up to a month to allow the nonprofit community to really push out opportunities for people – volunteers in the community and students – to get involved in work that they needed to get done,” Lefebvre said.
Each beautification project provides students, staff, faculty and locals “opportunities to help clean up and beautify the community.” From gardening to tree planting to fest cleanups to a 5K for Breast Cancer research, there are a variety of ways people can get their hands dirty.
Changing a day's work into a month’s provides those interested with more projects to choose from and a flexible schedule. Additionally, some Bobcats find themselves completing both community service and internship hours.
Caitlyn Conklin, a senior studying environmental science and sustainability, was offered an internship by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and is required to establish a “long-lasting” volunteer project.
Luckily for Conklin, this was an easy task. She said serving the environment is not only fun but also vital in sustaining a clean and safe space for animals and humans. Her project, a litter clean-up at Strouds Run State Park, started on March 29 and will continue on April 19 and 26 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“I have always grown up really caring about not littering and just trying to take care of our environment,” Conklin said. “It kind of sucks to see other people not care as much, but it is also really nice to know that we have people coming out and being able to clean it up.”
Located along the Hocking River and within Appalachian Ohio, Athens has been noted for its greenery and versatile outdoor spaces. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources states that over 233 neighborhoods in Ohio are recognized as “Tree Cities,” including Athens.
The ODRN is home to a group of forest fanatics who assist tree and planning commissions, beautification organizations, public service departments and townships in their regions. Ann Bonner, a Regional Urban and Community Forester, serves Region 2 and works on the Tree City USA national awards program each year.
The program awards cities across the U.S. that are planting and protecting trees. To be acknowledged as an official Tree City, a city must meet four requirements created by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.
These requirements include having a “tree board or department, public tree care ordinance, community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita” and “an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.”
To increase the number of trees and continue Tree City USA’s hard work, Bonner said the Vinton Furnace State Forest in McArthur is hosting tree plantings through Beautification Month. On April 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., OU students, locals and anyone interested can help plant 8,000 trees across 24 sites.
“These events are so important because we need to engage people in their role in our environment and a healthy environment translates into healthy humans,” Bonner said. “... Planting trees is a way to help mitigate some of the major environmental problems in the world.”
Bonner said Southeast Ohio has 15 Tree Cities and Athens has been a Tree City for 35 years. Through her 30 years of hard work and dedication to the Tree City USA program, Bonner said Beautification Month “is like Christmas” for her and fellow urban foresters in Ohio.
“In April, people are emerging from the winter, they are outside, they are looking up,” Bonner said. “They are hopefully recognizing the trees and the birds that are returning, and spring is so hopeful, it is rebirth.”
No matter the outdoor project Bobcats and locals find themselves working on this month, Athens Beautification Month hopes to curate a clean, beautiful and safe environment for all.
More information on beautification events can be found on GivePulse, OU’s community engagement platform for partner organizations, volunteer opportunities and service projects.
