Two Missouri Adopt-A-Highway volunteer groups were recognized for their work at a banquet on Nov. 27 in St. James, hosted by the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District, a program of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission.
Missouri Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway groups recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Environmental Stewardship include:
- Route 66 Parrot Head Club
- Owensville Lions Club
Nominated for this award by MoDOT Maintenance Supervisor Robert Cunningham, the Route 66 Parrot Head Club adopted a stretch on the south side of Old Route 66 between Bourbon and Cuba. This year, members of the group held clean-up events in April, June and October and collected 50 bags of trash. The club’s mission is “to leave things a little better than we found them while having fun doing it.”
The Owensville Lions Club was nominated for this award by MoDOT Maintenance Supervisor Jacob Keeney. Keeney said the group always communicates with him so they can coordinate mowing schedules with their litter cleanup. The Lions Club stewards a 1.5-mile stretch of Route 28 through the Adopt-A-Highway program. In addition to litter cleanup, they also take special care to separate recyclable materials from the trash and take that portion with them for proper recycling to avoid it being added to the landfill.
MoDOT Area Engineer Preston Kramer was on hand to help present volunteers with their awards. “I was so impressed to hear the stories of their generosity,” said Kramer. “Some of these men and women have been picking up litter for several years. Our dedicated volunteers are not only making our state’s roadsides more beautiful, but they are also saving Missouri taxpayers about $1 million each year, which is something to be very proud of.”
ABOUT ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY
Since 1987, Missouri's Adopt-A-Highway program has involved volunteers across the state working together to clean up Missouri. Currently, more than 5,200 groups and 50,000 volunteers in the program are focused on making Missouri’s roadsides cleaner and more attractive for our residents and visitors. Over 6,200 miles of roadway have been adopted. Adopters perform about $1 million a year in litter cleanup and beautification efforts from more than 385,000 acres of right of way along 34,000 state highway miles.
ABOUT MERAMEC REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. Marvin Wright serves as chairman of the board. A professional staff of 23 offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.
Photos available upon request.