Untitled Document

For Immediate Release
For more information, please contact:
Lori Dean (713)-839-8855 office;
or Robin Blut (713)-839-8855 office; (713) 805-1201 cellular

KEEP HOUSTON BEAUTIFUL HONOR PROUD PARTNERS

Houston, Texas (September 19, 2003)-The 19th annual Mayor's Proud Partners Luncheon will be held at Noon, Monday, September 29 at the InterContinental-Houston, 2222 West Loop South (Key Map 491 U). Keep Houston Beautiful, the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., sponsors the Proud Partners Awards Competition and the Mayor's Proud Partners Luncheon.

Mayor Lee P. Brown will be presenting the 2003 Outstanding Proud Partner of the Year Award to the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. This year's Beautification Award is being awarded to Beth Miller (Mrs. Charles Miller).

"The Proud Partner Award winners that we are honoring this year show true leadership, and are excellent role models of community activism and concern," said Bill Linthicum, Area President Republic Waste Services and Chair, Keep Houston Beautiful.

For nineteen years, Keep Houston Beautiful has recognized individuals and organizations who help make Houston a cleaner and more beautiful city. Other honorees include individuals, businesses, civic organizations, government agencies and schools that make our city shine.

This is the second year that, Penny and John Butler, will be chairing the luncheon. " I never fail to be amazed by what a group of dedicated volunteers can do to transform our wonderful city. As Houston prepares to roll-out the red carpet for Super Bowl XXVIII and Major League Baseball's All-Star Games, encouraging the type of volunteer projects undertaken by this year's Proud Partners will stimulate others to work together to make Houston Shine!" stated Penny Butler.

Penny Butler has been involved with Keep Houston Beautiful as a Houston Clean City Commissioner for 11 years. Jose Griñan, News Anchor FOX 26, will serve as Masters of Ceremonies.
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2003 OUTSTANDING PROUD PARTNER AWARD

Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
Contact: Oliver Luck, CEO
1001 Fannin, Suite 750
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 355-2164

Receiving the 2003 Outstanding Proud Partner Award is the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. William F. "Billy" Burge III, Chairman will accept the award. In just six years, the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has helped finance and construct three world-class sports and entertainment venues for our community. With 13 board members selected by Harris County Commissioners Court and Houston City Council, the Sports Authority has created facilities that offer Houston the ability to showcase the city to national and international media audiences and also the spectators coming to our city for these events.

2003 BEAUTIFICATION AWARD

Beth Miller (Mrs. Charles Miller)
Contact: Beth Miller
121 North Post Oak Lane, # 2606
Houston, TX 77024
(713) 652-1982

Beth Miller (Mrs. Charles Miller) will be accepting the 2003 Beautification Award for her passion in preserving our natural resources and promoting ecological awareness in her community. Over the past year, she has installed five liberty gardens in Houston, in memory of the events of September 11th. All the gardens adorn public spaces including the City of Houston Fire Department Logistics Building, the Houston Public Library Julia Ideson Building, the Houston Public Library Frank Branch, The Heritage Society in Sam Houston Park, and the City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department North Environmental Service Center. The Houston Zoo landscape was created in remembrance of the Challenger crew.

Photos from Luncheon

OTHER PROUD PARTNER AWARD RECIPIENTS

The Refurbishment of Settegast Park Ballfield as a part of the Grand Slam for Youth Baseball Program
Contact: Fred Arnold
Manager of Graphic and Visual Services for Coca-Cola North America
2000 St. James Place
Houston, TX 77056
(713) 888-5341

Fred Arnold, Manager of Graphics & Visual Services for Coca-Cola North America, will be accepting the award on behalf of Grand Slam for Youth Baseball. Minute Maid, Houston Astros and City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department refurbished Settegast Park, home to more than 400 children and adults in community baseball and softball teams. Settegast Park became the first ballpark to receive numerous safety, long-term maintenance, and aesthetic improvements totaling more than $100,000. Minute Maid's 28-year commitment to Houston's major league ball park also carries with it a commitment to refurbish a public ballfield a year for the next 28 years and sponsor the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department's Youth Baseball Program.

H-E-B Water Playgrounds
H-E-B partnering with Houston Parks Board, Inc.

Contact: Deborah Rule
Executive Assistant, The Houston Parks Board
2001 Kirby Dr., Suite 814
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 942-8500

Winell Herron, Vice President of Houston H-E-B Division, will be accepting the award on behalf of H-E-B for their $1.1 million donation that created water playgrounds for five heavily used city parks that lacked water amenities: Hidalgo Park, Blueridge Park, Edgewood Park, Cullen Park, and a new property on Antoine that is being developed into a park in Acres Homes.

Beautification, Inspiration, Education, Transformation
Roberts Elementary

Contact: Samuel Sarabia
Principal, Roberts Elementary
6000 Greenbriar
Houston, TX 77030
(713) 295-5272

Jenny Sommer, PTO Chairperson for Building & Grounds Committee, will be accepting the award for Roberts Elementary. This project included more than $23,000 worth of donated products and labor, monetary donations and hundreds of hours of volunteer time dramatically beautified Roberts Elementary through a collaboration involving teachers, students and the surrounding community. In the process, the school forged new relationships that will help out in future projects to continue this transformation.

Marvin Taylor
Friends of Hermann Park

Contact: Marvin Taylor
Board of Director, Friends of Hermann Park
5415 Palmer
Houston, TX 77004
(713) 528-4342

Accepting the Proud Partner Award is Marvin Taylor. Marvin Taylor is an example of what one dedicated person can do about something he cares deeply about. His inspirational leadership and longstanding love of the Hermann Park has created improvements to the jogging trails that Houstonians will enjoy for many years to come.

Growing Together: The Changing Face of Houston
KHOU-TV/Active Imagination

Contact: Beryt Nisenson
Owner, Active Imagination
1210 W. Clay, Suite 21
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 528-6100

Greg Hurst, KHOU News Anchor, and Beryt Nisenson, Owner of Active Imagination and Producer of "Growing Together: The Changing Face of Houston" will be accepting the award. KHOU-TV produced and funded the 30-minute, prime time television special dedicated to raising awareness of quality of life issues including green space and beautification. Seen by 87,000 viewers on March 16, 2003, A Growing Together: The Changing Face of Houston used industry experts and personal stories to examine this important issue and bring it to the public's attention.

Marsh Restoration
Port of Houston Authority

Contact: Felicia Griffin
Media Relations, Port of Houston Authority
111 East Loop North
Houston, Texas 77029
(713) 670-2644

Argentina James, Director of Public Affairs, will be accepting the award on behalf of the Port of Houston Authority. The Port of Houston Authority has created an unprecedented project to restore 4,250 acres of marsh, upland and bird habitats, create a six-acre bird island, and restore two previously existing islands battered by storm and erosion in the
Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay. The $94 million project is larger than anything ever before contemplated, much less executed in the United States.

Greater Inwood Partnership (GIP)
ABC 2000

Contact: Daphne B. Tumlin
Director, Antoine Beautification Campaign
7614 Long Creek Ct.
Houston, TX 77088
(281) 448-3187

Daphne B. Tumlin, Director of Antoine Beautification Campaign, will be accepting the award. Over a three-year period, the Greater Inwood Partnerships Antoine Beautification Campaign 2000 (ABC 2000) landscaped and maintained 4.1 miles of Antoine. The organization approached businesses, schools, churches, apartment complexes, civic associations, and a local country club to secure the adoption and improvement of 55 esplanades through landscaping, irrigation systems, and ongoing maintenance.

Main Street Gateway to Reliant Park Beautification Project
Main Street Coalition

Contact: Susan Young
South Main Street Coalition
3401 Louisiana St., Suite 355
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 522-9998

Ed Wulfe, Chair of the Main Street Coalition, will be accepting the award. This project has transformed the concrete wasteland of Main Street at Reliant Stadium into a beautiful park-like entrance with magnificent live oak trees from Kirby Drive to the 610 South Loop. Spearheaded by the Main Street Coalition, the water features, trees and landscaping have made the area more inviting, grand and attractive, befitting a world-class facility

Weekley Family YMCA
YMCA of Greater Houston

Contact: Heidi Brasher
Director of Communications, YMCA
2122 East Governors Circle
Houston, TX 77092
(713) 353-5241

Rick Byrd, Executive Director of Weekley Family YMCA, will be accepting the award. In the late 1980s, the YMCA became a partner and benefactor of the Stella Link Redevelopment Associations ambitious goal of replacing dilapidated and crime-infested apartment complexes along Stella Link Boulevard with community parks, a library and a YMCA. In May 2003, the 29,000 square-foot Weekley Family YMCA opened, complete with a 25-yard outdoor pool and water slide, a water spray park filled with playful fountains and jets of water, and plenty of room to serve the 3,000 families expected to join in the first year

NeighborWoods
Trees For Houston

Contact: Kathy Lord
Executive Director, Trees for Houston
P.O. Box 130096
Houston, TX 77219-0096
(713) 840-8733

Kathy Lord, Executive Director of Trees for Houston, will be accepting the award. NeighborWoods is a tree-planting project that allows Trees For Houston to act as a facilitator between citizens, the City of Houston and Trees For Houston to increase the number of trees planted while keeping costs down for all involved. During the 2002/2003 planting season, 1,329 trees were distributed to 13 Houston neighborhoods where residents planted them in the right-of-ways in front of their homes, and committed to their long-term maintenance.

Community United for Neighborhood Change
Panda Path School/TMO

Contact: Carmen Rogina
Principal, Panda Path Elementary
8575 Pitner Rd.
Houston, TX 77080
(713) 329-6690

Principal Carmen Rogina, Panda Path School (SBISD), will be accepting the award. This project included a group of concerned parents of pre-K students from Panda Path School in Spring Branch who teamed up with The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), the City of Houston and Keep Houston Beautiful to clean up the Pitner Road neighborhood. The targets of their concern were an abandoned seven-acre lot and a cantina that was notorious for shootings, drugs, prostitution, and the selling of alcohol to minors.

CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION

"La Ventana de Oportunidad" Mural Project
Greater East End Management District

Vecinos Unidos
Houston Rockets

Marcy Williams
New Braeswood Revitalization Association

Community Outdoor Outreach Program
Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center

Petersen Elementary SPARK Park
SPARK School Park Program

Alcott Elementary SPARK Park
SPARK School Park Program

Groom & Bloom in Haden Park
Spring Branch Revitalization Association

Trees for Houston & TXDOT Cost Share
Trees for Houston

Trees for Houston & TXDOT Cost Share
Texas Department of Transportation

HONORABLE MENTION

Reinventing Downtown Landscaping!
Crescent Real Estate Equities, Ltd.

Paul W. Horn Academy Schoolyard Habitat
Celestial Habitats

Thomas R. Wussow and CityView Parks
Greater Greenspoint District & Greater Greenspoint Redevelopment Authority

Bernie Guerra
Manchester Civic Club

Heart of Texas Park
Pin Oak Middle School

Shepherd Park Terrace "Operation Clean Sweep"
Shepherd Park Terrace Civic Club

The Greening of Fondren Road: Now & For the Future
Southwest Houston 2000, Inc.

Bessie Stratton
The Super Neighborhood Alliance

Richmond/Wilcrest Esplanades
Westchase District