Our community

Who we areThe KDB Family Aimee BissettTitle for president’s letter Lancine BentleyKDB 101

KDB Programs: Then and nowKDB 101 Great American Cleanup Redbud Festival Tree Programs Q & A: KDB’s Beginnings Cecille Carson

In our 25th yearCleaning up Fry Street Aimee BissettIn the gardens Christa CroweExpanding our reach Jannibah Coleman

Money mattersKDB capacity- then and now:Financial supporters

Our partnersOur volunteers

CONTENTSyearbook

The KDB FamilyAimee BissettDear KDB Friends and Family,This has been a year of reflection for all of us at Keep Denton Beautiful. As we celebrate KDB’s 25th birthday, I can’t help but look back over the years of my involvement with this awesome organization. A few weeks ago, as we were preparing to host our Annual Tree GiveAway, it occurred to me that this would be my seventh year to help with this event. My youngest daughter Gracie turned seven this year also – she has been a KDB volunteer her entire life! As I look back over the history of this organization and think about what makes KDB so special, one word comes to mind: family. All of you, through your years of supporting our mission, have become a part of the KDB family.

One volunteer recently wrote a letter to tell me that she has been cleaning up her Adopt a Spot now for over 20 years! What’s more, her son recently adopted a new spot in Denton as well. We have volunteers who bring their parents and their children out to help at Great American Cleanup – three generations working together to keep Denton beautiful. Staff members and volunteers have come and gone over the years, but even those who have moved away are still a part of the family. Many KDB volunteers have developed friendships that will last a lifetime. I know I certainly have.

When I began working with KDB in 2006, my motivation was simple. I want my children to grow up in a community that is safe, healthy, and beautiful. I know all of you want the same thing for your families, and that is why you come back to help us year after year. You make Denton cleaner, greener, and more beautiful. I am looking forward to the next 25 years with my KDB family!

Sincerely,

Aimee BissettProgram Manager

Aimee’s daughter Gracie (age 3) at the 2008 Redbud Festival with Board

President, Lancine Bentley

Aimee with daughters Taylor and Gracie at Stream Clean in 2011

T i t le, Pres ident’s letter. . .

our missionTo inspire individuals to take greater responsibility for creating a clean and beautiful city through litter prevention, reduction of waste, and community beautification.

our visionTo be a catalyst for positive change by providing opportunities, resources, education, and support to residents and businesses to enhance the community.

KDB 101

STAFF

BOARD

From left to right: Lauren Barker, Volunteer Coordinator; Aimee Bissett, Program

Manager and Jannibah Coleman, Outreach Coordinator

Kathernine BarnettLancine BentleyAlethia Carmans*Christa CroweLisa Elser*Jean GreenlawJan HillmanRichard HuckabyLindsay Satterwhite-PrestonAlicia Taylor*Phillip Vivar*

*indicates former board member

K D B

1989 2000

KDB became a stand-alone nonprofit organization!

2006

The Project Post Oak and Denia WaterSmart gardens were installed. Now, we host regular work days and engage hundreds of volunteers every year in their upkeep.

2012

25 years strong, KDB continues to serve the needs of the community by improving existing programs and developing new ones. It’ll be exciting to see what the next 25 years bring!

1994

Keep Denton Beautiful resurrected the Denton Redbud Festival. Prior to that, Texas State College held the Redbud Festival, an event they hosted from 1939 to 1981.

1987 1990 1998 20081992

The City of Denton received the Tree City designation via KDB.

2001

Keep Denton Beautiful hosted the first Community Tree Giveaway event.

City Council signed a resolution creating a Blue Ribbon Citizen’s Task Force for beautification of major city entrances and other city beautification efforts. That task force eventually became Keep Denton Beautiful!

KDB teamed up with the Texas Department of Transportation to make the Adopt-a-Highway program available in the Denton area. That initiative would eventually become the Adopt-a-Spot program!

KDB won the Governor’s Community Achievement Award for the fifth time! KDB also received the GCAA in 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2003.

The first ever Great American Cleanup was held this year.

Environmental Education Grants were awarded for the first time this year! Since then, KDB has allocated over $22,000 to Denton schools for mission-oriented projects. 101

1989 2000

KDB became a stand-alone nonprofit organization!

2006

The Project Post Oak and Denia WaterSmart gardens were installed. Now, we host regular work days and engage hundreds of volunteers every year in their upkeep.

2012

25 years strong, KDB continues to serve the needs of the community by improving existing programs and developing new ones. It’ll be exciting to see what the next 25 years bring!

1994

Keep Denton Beautiful resurrected the Denton Redbud Festival. Prior to that, Texas State College held the Redbud Festival, an event they hosted from 1939 to 1981.

1987 1990 1998 20081992

The City of Denton received the Tree City designation via KDB.

2001

Keep Denton Beautiful hosted the first Community Tree Giveaway event.

City Council signed a resolution creating a Blue Ribbon Citizen’s Task Force for beautification of major city entrances and other city beautification efforts. That task force eventually became Keep Denton Beautiful!

KDB teamed up with the Texas Department of Transportation to make the Adopt-a-Highway program available in the Denton area. That initiative would eventually become the Adopt-a-Spot program!

KDB won the Governor’s Community Achievement Award for the fifth time! KDB also received the GCAA in 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2003.

The first ever Great American Cleanup was held this year.

Environmental Education Grants were awarded for the first time this year! Since then, KDB has allocated over $22,000 to Denton schools for mission-oriented projects.

GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP

THEN GAC began in 1989 in conjunction as a public relations campaign intended to increase awareness of the City of Denton’s Beautification Committee and and garner support for their pending affiliation with Keep America Beautiful (KAB). The original event was not the large one-day citywide cleanup it is today. Instead, GAC was comprised of one larger cleanup and several small group efforts that continued throughout the year. The first GAC had 200 student volunteer participants.

NOW Since the first cleanup events were held, the Great American Cleanup has gone on to become one of KDB’s biggest and most recognized annual events. Hundreds of participants – including volunteers from local civic groups, fraternities and sororities, schools, Boy and Girl Scout groups, and even the Denton City Council – take part in the cleanup each year, making this the largest volunteer cleanup that occurs in Denton. During its 23 year history in the Denton community, the Great American Cleanup has resulted in the removal of an estimated 2 million pounds of litter from our city’s streets, drainage ditches, and common areas - all through the efforts of local volunteers.

Redbudthen

The Denton Redbud Festival dates back to the 1930s, when Dr. L.H. Hubbard, president of the Texas State College for Women (now known as the Texas Women’s University), worked with the college’s Exterior Beautification Committee to implement a campus beautification program. The program called for transplanting more than 2,000 Redbud trees throughout the campus. The college took great pride in its Redbud-lined streets and common areas, which are said to have attracted visitors who came to admire the beautiful Redbud trees in bloom.

In 1939, Texas State College hosted its first Redbud Festival, an event that became the highlight of the spring semester each year. The week-long festival ended with the crowning of a Redbud Queen at a ball given in her honor. Texas State College’s Redbud Festival tradition officially ended in 1981, but the Festival was given new life in 1994, after KDB and former Mayor Bob Castlebury sent a letter to the 73rd Texas State Legislature requesting that Denton be named the “Redbud Capital of Texas.” Known initially as “Redbud Days,” the event was hosted by KDB at the Civic Center to commemorate Denton’s “Redbud Capital” designation. Redbud seedlings were made available to festival attendees, and the event continued to grow each year. The “Redbud Romp 5K” race was added to the event to help boost attendance, and helped kick off the festival each year until this portion of the event was retired in 2008.

+

edbudThe Denton Redbud Festival dates back to the 1930s, when Dr. L.H. Hubbard, president of the Texas State College for Women (now known as the Texas Women’s University), worked with the college’s Exterior Beautification Committee to implement a campus beautification program. The program called for transplanting more than 2,000 Redbud trees throughout the campus. The college took great pride in its Redbud-lined streets and common areas, which are said to have attracted visitors who came to admire the beautiful Redbud trees in bloom.

In 1939, Texas State College hosted its first Redbud Festival, an event that became the highlight of the spring semester each year. The week-long festival ended with the crowning of a Redbud Queen at a ball given in her honor. Texas State College’s Redbud Festival tradition officially ended in 1981, but the Festival was given new life in 1994, after KDB and former Mayor Bob Castlebury sent a letter to the 73rd Texas State Legislature requesting that Denton be named the “Redbud Capital of Texas.” Known initially as “Redbud Days,” the event was hosted by KDB at the Civic Center to commemorate Denton’s “Redbud Capital” designation. Redbud seedlings were made available to festival attendees, and the event continued to grow each year. The “Redbud Romp 5K” race was added to the event to help boost attendance, and helped kick off the festival each year until this portion of the event was retired in 2008.

Festivalnow+

In 2001, the festival was renamed the “Denton Redbud Festival” and began to increasingly resemble the event it is today. In addition to being a celebration of Denton’s status as the Redbud Capital of Texas, the event now also serves as the City of Denton’s official Arbor Day Event. The 2012 Redbud Festival featured a home and garden show with more than 50 vendors, around 75 volunteers, and live music. Festival attendance is estimated at between 5,000 and 7,000 people each year.

+kdb

treesTree Giveaway

The Tree GiveAway Event has been held by KDB since 1999, when approximately 2,000 trees were given away to Denton residents at the Denton Water Reclamation Plant. The event began as part of a “Make a Difference Day” cleanup, and has continued to grow and become one of KDB’s most well-known community events.

Now, KDB distributes

1,000 trees annually with the help of dozens of

volunteers. Tree recipients are encouraged to track the

growth of their tree and share pictures and status reports

with KDB.

NeighborWoodsThe NeighborWoods Program is one of KDB’s tree-planting programs - and part of a national effort through an organization called the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT). Initiated in 2001 in Denton, the NeighborWoods Program seeks to restore tree canopy in urban areas by providing free trees and tree-planting resources for applying neigh-borhood groups.

NeighborWoods was originally funded by City of Denton utility customers who elected to contribute to a city “Tree Conservation Fund” via their monthly bill. In its first year, the program helped residents of Southeast Denton plant 100 Live Oak and Burr Oak trees in their neighborhood. The number of trees distributed grew to 200 the following year.

Today, the NeighborWoods program is funded entirely by KDB and assists an average of two neighborhood groups per year.

Children’s Arbor DayChildren’s Arbor Day is an annual, community-wide program that distributes Redbud tree seedlings to third grade students in public and private school in Denton. The program celebrates National Arbor Day, and honors Denton’s status as the Redbud Capital of Texas.

The first Children’s Arbor Day event was held by KDB in 1997. Since then, the program has provided hundreds of Redbud seedlings to Denton children, helping them to learn first-hand about the importance of trees in our com-munity.

Q&A KDB’s Beginnings: Ceci l le Carson

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Expanding Our ReachJannibah ColemanBeautiful People, the new membership level for young professionals, is off to a great start. These members, like all members, make a financial gift to KDB. They are also charged with being ambassadors for KDB. In return, they are experiencing great social networking and educational opportunities. Thus far, the group has hosted several fun events. For example, in April,

members visited Cardo’s Farm Cooperative for a fascinating tour. It was an outing to engage all senses- from viewing the vast acreage to tasting the sprouts on their way to market. Beau-tiful People also met at a local winery for a sustainability lecture, joined for a mission-related film at the Thin Line Film Festival and learned how to make rain barrels.

Cleaning Up Fry StreetAimee BissettOdit, cum re vollauta nonsequod eaturecte perundi atuscium abore natest audi nosandi ium in recullandam, seque rem reriamus, cum et et am ilitae nus et exersped que dolum ent occullabo. Ihillor entotat em-pori que et quo mo quam voluptae magnameni ditatqui derum qui iur miniam, offictas acil estiusdanda erferum vent Odit, cum re vollauta nonsequod eaturecte perundi atuscium abore natest audi nosandi ium in recullandam, seque rem reriamus, cum et

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Cleaning Up Fry StreetChrista CroweOdit, cum re vollauta nonsequod eaturecte perundi atuscium abore natest audi nosandi ium in recullandam, seque rem reriamus, cum et et am ilitae nus et exersped que dolum ent occullabo. Ihillor entotat empori que et quo mo quam voluptae magnameni ditatqui derum qui iur miniam, offictas acil estiusdanda erferum vent Odit, cum re vollauta nonsequod eaturecte perundi atuscium abore

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Money Matters

Money Matters

Our community

Our community

Cover design: Taylor SheppardEditor: Jannibah ColemanContributors: Lancine Bentley, Aimee Bissett, Cecille Carson, Jannibah Coleman, Christa Crowe, Kristopher PhillipsProfessional photography: Aubrey Salsman

For more information, contact:

KEEP DENTON BEAUTIFUL1117 Riney RoadDenton, TX 76207(940) 349-8737www.kdb.org