The Town Green - December 2015 - The Shoofly Magazine

The Town Green - December 2015

12/1/2015

Caught in the Act of a Beautiful Deed

A program recognizes people who are quietly and anonymously helping make the Bay-Waveland area a lovelier place to live.
- story by Ana Balka, photos by Katharine Truett Ohman

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Melinda Rihner - Caught in the Act of a Beautiful Deed!

When I called Katharine Truett Ohman for this story on the Beautiful Deeds program, she was onsite somewhere close to St. Augustine Seminary planting crape myrtles for the Hancock Chamber’s “Life Grows On” Memorial Tree Planting program (see links to this and other Hancock County Development Foundation non-profit causes here).

I suggested calling her later, and in the meantime maybe she could email me some information on the program about which I called? Yes, she said, and she could send photos and --

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“Wait,” she said, “we’re talking about — you were calling about another program.”

“Beautiful Deeds,” I said. She laughs, and I point out that Truett Ohman’s many causes seem to overlap. She agrees.

“They’re all about re-greening,” she says.

“Caught in the Act of a Beautiful Deed” is a program by the Hancock County Chamber Beautification Committee (which Truett Ohman co-chairs with Ellis Cuevas) that aims to “catch” Hancock County citizens in the act of environmental beautification. The committee feels that recognizing these citizens for their contributions is essential since they help improve the quality of life in our community. Recipients are sent a letter of recognition for their civic-minded beautification assistance.

“We’re always trying to acknowledge individuals out there who are working so hard,” Katharine says. Members of the Chamber’s Beautification Committee are always on the lookout for people doing good work around town, but this is a challenging and random effort.

“I’d love for it to be public so if someone sees something they can email me directly,” says Katharine.

She asks Hancock County residents to look out for people picking up trash, caring for trees, weeding public areas, or performing other voluntary beautification efforts around the county.

To nominate someone, email Katharine with the recipient’s name, location, activity, contact information, and any other pertinent information (the more info, the better to identify the person and the deed, she said).