DECATUR’S CELEBRATION OF BLOOMS

DECATUR’S AIB JOURNEYWatch as we highlight the achievements made since we joined the AIB contest and as we thank those who deserve special recognition for their community service and support.

“Decatur has already won because we are changing mindsets and achieving more beautification than ever . . . “

2017 AIB SYMPOSIUMAfter attending the 2017 AIB Symposium, we took back some gifts and ideas to help fuel our growth.

Ideas include:

• Main Street Medians• Downtown Hanging Baskets• New Orchard Planting• Light Pole Banner Installation• Facebook Page• Community Volunteer Hours Collection• Brinkoetter Bright Blooms Program• Volunteer Recognition Events• Guerilla Gardeners

GREENSPACE VOLUNTEERSThank you to our greenspace volunteers listed below who helped plant and clean up two major streets in Decatur.

Eldorado Street volunteer:• Stephen Cantrell

Main Street volunteers:• Jarrod Cox• Robin Jackson• Kevin McSherry• Dorothy Miller• Tayisha Nelson• Becky Newton• Verneil Phillips

ADOPTED GREENSPACETaylor Deetz with Taylor Made Landscaping adopts a greenspace that will eliminate a major eyesore on MLK and Eldorado streets.

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – DAY 1The West Main Street Island Revitalization had a great turnout in spite of the cold temperatures.

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – DAY 1Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe and Councilwoman Lisa Gregory helped many other individuals and groups with the first two West Main Island Cleanup Days sponsored by the Beautify Decatur Coalition.

they WORK! City officials not only speak . . .

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – DAY 2The second day of the West Main Street Island Revitalization brought better weather, and lots of sunshine, plants, and volunteers.

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – DAY 2

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION –STATISTICSA total of (10) islands, plus the Eldorado greenspace, was completed in (2) days totaling (8) work hours.

Day One• (50) volunteers braving 40-degree temps• (123) bags of yard waste, (40) bags of mulched leaves, and (18) bags of trash collected

Day Two• (62) volunteers enjoyed break in cold temps with sunshine• (196) perennials planted and (448) volunteers hours, plus planning

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION –VISIONS TO REALITYWithout the help from these landscaping experts, our visions would have never become a reality:

• Verneil Phillips (Millikin University)

• Taylor Deetz (Taylor Made Landscaping)

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION –MILLIKIN UNIVERSITYMillikin University chipped in big time with the West Main Street Islands.

• Verneil Phillips

• Millikin Grounds Crew

• Kim Mangan Communications

+ Photography

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – LOWE’SDecatur’s Lowe’s helps give back to the community through donations and work crews.

• Michelle Cornette

• Supply Donations and Gift Cards

• Work Crews

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION – CONO

Lowe’s donated the tools from Day One and Day Two to the Coalition of Neighborhoods Organization (CONO) for the Community Clean-Up Trailer.

Additional Supplies Needed:• Leaf blower• Weed whacker• Lawn mower

Additional Funding Needed:• 1/3 of the way to achieve their goal to purchase a trailer for Community Clean-Up activities.

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION –SANDWICHESJimmy John’s and Trisha Erickson donated sandwiches for hard-working volunteers.

Sandwich Stats• Day One – (30) ordered, but (50) needed• Day Two – (50) ordered, but (62) needed

We were able to react quickly when the volunteers that arrived each day exceeded our expectations!

WEST MAIN STREET ISLAND REVITALIZATION –MILLIKIN HOMESTEADA special thanks to the Millikin Homestead for hosting the volunteers for the island clean-ups and to Linda Ostrander and Julie Carter for their continued support.

Linda Ostrander• Lake Celebration• AIB Team• Tour Luncheon

Julie Carter• Photography• Site Support• Tour Luncheon

DOWNTOWN PLANTERSWith (45) volunteers and (2) hours, all (66) downtown planters were planted. Flowers were donated by Connie’s Country Greenhouse.

ELDORADO CORRIDOR BEAUTIFICATIONThanks to Ashlei Amettis with the Decatur Public School District for adopting a greenspace across from Decatur’s Civic Center on Eldorado Street.

Designed by:• Rich Starshak

Funded by:• Beautify Decatur’s Partners/Sponsors

Planted by:• Ashlei Amettis• Jacqui McQuality• Marvin Sowers and Family• Jim and Kathy Gresham• Ellen Hearn

NO LITTER ZONEThe No Litter Zone participation sky rockets from previous year.

August 2017297 Participants

July 2018403 Participants

ADOPT-A-STREETDecatur’s Adopt-A-Street program includes 58.3 miles of Decatur streets.

58.3 Miles of Adopted Streets

FLEET FEET SPORTSLocal Decatur business, Fleet Feet Sports, steps up to remove litter on Earth Day by hosting a fun run, yoga, and clean-up event.

CULVER’S LITTER COUPONCulver’s offered a sweet reward by issuing coupons to help motivate volunteers to remove litter.

LET’S KEEP DECATUR BEE-UTIFULThe Let’s Keep Decatur Bee-utiful business contest achieves a new record of participants.

BRINKOETTER’S BRIGHT BLOOMS –RESIDENTIAL CONTESTBrinkoetter and Associates launched a residential beautification contest in 2018 with awards donated by Rich Starshak of the Garden Path.

BEAUTIFICATION FINANCIAL SUPPORTA huge thank you to the following partners and sponsors for helping the community become more beautiful through their financial support:

Partners:• Ameren Illinois• Andreas Foundation• Decatur Convention and Visitor’s Bureau• EDC of Decatur-Macon County• Grain Journal• Lucy Smith• Cindi & Dan Larson• Speed Lube• Walmart North

Sponsors:• Hickory Point Bank• Doug Schmalz• Waite’s Dry Cleaners• Liaison Home Automation

CENTRAL PARK BLOOMSA special thanks to the following for adding blooms to Central Park with hanging baskets:

• The Garden Club

• Kathy Sorensen

• City of DecaturMatt Newell

Brian Elam

CITY-SUPPORTED BEAUTIFICATIONThe City of Decatur continues to support the beautification efforts of the community. Recently new banners, welcome signs, and way finding signs were put up around the city.

ELECTRICAL BOX WRAPSDowntown Decatur is home to a few dressed up electrical boxes.

URBAN FORESTRYRecently a $1,000 Rotary Grant was awarded to fund a new orchard at Enterprise Elementary School to help support the Andreas Ag Academy.

URBAN FORESTRYHere’s how Decatur celebrated Arbor Day:

• City of Decatur planted a tree at Oak Grove. Decatur ranks fifth highest of all Illinois communities for the number of years (35) to have received the award.

• (115) trees planted in the Conservation District by (15) Decatur Rotary volunteers.

• Johnny Appleseed Heritage Tree planted to celebrate State of IL Bi-Centennial at the We Community Garden.

• CN Grant 2016 allowed for (240) trees to be planted in 2017-18.

• Over (600) trees planted in 2017 on public lands due to reforestation efforts.

URBAN FORESTRYA continued list of activity happening to celebrate Arbor Day.

Young Professionals of Caterpillar plant (27) trees in Lakeshore Landing.

BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONThe WE Community Garden plants the Johnny Appleseed tree.

DECATUR PARK DISTRICTThanks to the Decatur Park District for their outstanding support in many fields.

• Flight Arrangements for Judges

• Tour Vehicles

• More Beautiful Park Locations Available Than Time To Tour

• Jill Applebee Coordinating all Decatur

Park District logistics and communications

DECATUR VOLUNTEERSThe Decatur community was awarded the Governor’s Cup for 2017 for its participation in the WSOY Community Food Drive, which raised 1.4 million pounds/dollars of food in its 16th year.

More than (10) hours of volunteer hours were provided per resident in 2017!

HERALD & REVIEWThanks to Decatur’s Herald & Review, for sharing so many messages about the beautification efforts in Decatur. Special coverage included the following:

• AIB Launch• Adopt a Street• West Main Street Clean-Up• Let’s Keep Decatur Bee-utiful BusinessContest• Leadership Breakfast AIB Pitch• Hanging Baskets

WSOY: BYERS & CO. WSOY and Brian Byers of the Byers & Co. morning radio show is a continued promoter of Decatur and has recently added blooms to downtown.

Brian Byers

• Promotes America in Bloom

• Promotes Let’s Keep Decatur Bee-utiful Business Contest

• Promotes Small Business in Bloom

• Adopts and enhances downtown greenspace

FROM THE GROUND UP LANDSCAPESWSOY Radio and From the Group Up Landscapes are both recent sponsors of the Small Business in Bloom contest.

Kevin McSherry– From the Ground Up

Landscapes

• Help promotes another

beautification contest with a $5K giveaway!

PAINTED ROCKSThe spreading of AIB painted rocks thanks those in our community who understand the value of bee-utification.

Sheryl Sowers – volunteer of Thank You gifts

“In 2016, I began painting happy bees on rocks to offset negativity. I called them BEE Kind Rocks. In one year, BEE Kind Rocks were in (50) states and (52) countries, from the jungles of the Amazon to the Great Wall of China. Each small stone passes kindness from one to another.” - Sheryl

Sheryl’s brother, Marvin, a Beautify Decatur volunteer, travels regularly and helps share the rocks across the world.

WELCOME EXPERIENCEThanks to the following for providing great welcome baskets for the AIB judges.

• Becky Newton, Wrens Gate Garden & StudioFloral arrangements

• Jo Clark CaulkinsWelcome baskets

• Garden ClubFloral arrangements

FLOWERS FOR GOVERNOR’S MANSION

Becky Newton, owner of Wren’s Gate Garden and Studio, recently took part in the grand reopening of the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield in which she and other Illinois florists and growers provided and arranged flowers.

All flowers used for the event were grown within 100 miles of Springfield.

Photo by Jim Bowling, Herald & Review

FUELING SUCCESS WITH FUNDINGThanks to the following for securing funds to beautify our community:

• Susan Avery

• Stacey AtteberryHubbard

• Sandy Cole

• Cindy Deadrick

• Jill Davis

• Ellen Hearn

• Dan Larson

CATERPILLARCaterpillar shows how even our most prominent industries can play a role in beautification.

AIB WELCOME SIGN DONATIONThank you to Geo. A Mueller Co. for their donation of signs to recognize sponsors and partners, as well as signs that welcome the AIB judges to our community.

JILL DAVIS AND SUSAN AVERYThank you to our Beautify Decatur Coalition Co-Chairs, Jill Davis and Susan Avery.

MATT HONNOLDMatt Honnold, a Beautify Decatur volunteer, has spent much time and talent spreading the AIB message through the Facebook and Instagram social media channels.

GUERILLA GARDENERSThanks to our many ‘guerilla gardeners’ for jumping in to spruce up eyesores as needed.

MASTER GARDENERSThe Master Gardeners prove through their Library Gardens work that Decatur can compete at the national level.

TERI HAMMEL Thanks to the Decatur Convention and Visitor’s Bureau's Teri Hammel for her continued support and expertise.

• Press conference announcement

• Funding of AIB Symposium participation

• Creation of name tags

• Promotional efforts to use community signage to welcome judges

• Funding of judges’ meals and lodging

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TEAMThanks to the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur – Macon County team of Nicole Bateman, Brandy Bockewitz, Andrew Taylor, and Chris Phillips of SOLVR Group for their experience, efforts and talent in many fields.

• Profile Editing & Design

• Marketing Support

• Tour Planning

• Lead Tour Guide

• Tour Kindle Design

• Social Media & Presentation Design

MARVIN SOWERSAnother Beautify Decatur Coalition volunteer, Marvin Sowers, has spent much time helping prepare for the AIB contest and his efforts do not go unnoticed.

• No Litter Zone Lead

• Adopt a Street support

• AIB profile preparation

• Tour book preparation

• Tour timing

• AIB Tour maps

• Adopt a Street maps

ELLEN HEARN, AIB CHAIREllen Hearn is our fearless leader and has put a tremendous amount of work into the AIB contest, among the general tasks of beautifying Decatur.

• Promote the AIB opportunity

• Coordinate AIB Committee

• Fundraising

• Profile preparation

• Tour timing

• West Main St. Island planning

• AIB presentations

THANKS TO ALL!There are many businesses that have helped with AIB efforts. Thanks to all!

• Beautify Decatur Coalition• Brinkoetter & Associates • City of Decatur• Connie’s Country Greenhouse• Culver’s• Decatur Convention and Visitor’s Bureau• Decatur Park District• EDC of Decatur – Macon County• Garden Club• Herald & Review• Jimmy John’s• Kenny’s Ace Hardware• Lowe’s Home Improvement• Millikin University

• Millikin Homestead• George Mueller Distributing• Partners• Sponsors• Taylor Made Landscaping• WSOY

APOLOGIESThis presentation was prepared in an attempt to thank all of the people who helped us step up our game so we could compete at the national level for the America in Bloom contest.

If your efforts were not recognized, please know it is merely an oversight.

We hope you feel rewarded by knowing that your commitment to our community is making a positive difference!

THANK YOU!