Clean-up Day set for April 26
By Art Johnson Millen Better Hometown

Friends of the Millen Cemetery will be cleaning up the Millen Cemetery on April 26 as part of the Keep Jenkins Beautiful campaign. Anyone who would like to volunteer to assist the organization should contact Steve Burke at Jenkins County Farm Bureau. (Photo contributed)

For the third year, Millen Better Hometown, Millen/Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce, Jenkins County Commissioners and the City of Millen are sponsoring Keep Jenkins Beautiful in April. The theme this year is "Fifty to Fix." We are looking for 50 groups to help clean up the city and county. Jenkins County has about 60 churches, about 25 school clubs/groups, and at least 10 civic clubs. These total almost 100 organizations. Our goal is to recruit at least 50 of these groups to help beautify the community.

The date set for Keep Jenkins Beautiful is April 26. Please be part of this effort by encouraging organizations you are asso- ciated with to choose a project and participate. Trash pickup is a big need, but groups can choose any kind of project that will enhance our appearance: planting flowers, putting out straw in parks, cutting down weeds, giving a fresh coat of paint to a building. If April 26 is not a convenient date, groups are free to choose a more suitable time;

Your project will still count as part of our effort.

During the month of April many groups will be working to improve Georgia communities during this year's Cleanup and Keep Georgia Beautiful Month. The event, organized state wide by Keep Georgia Beautiful, is part of the nation's largest cleanup, beautification, and community improvement program, Keep America Beautiful.

There has been much justified concern in the last year with Jenkins County's unemployment rate and the need to attract new industries and businesses. Competition is keen among every city and town in Georgia to be the location chosen for a new business. Every incentive a county or city can offer is important to success. Equally important to incentives though, is the appearance of a community. Businesses and industries looking for a new location visit potential areas without the knowledge of local leadership to assess the attractiveness of the community which has a direct correlation to community pride.

Millen and Jenkins County have many attractive features to take pride in. Unfortunately, we also have a number of eyesores and trashy areas that could very possibly have caused our area to be marked off the list of possible new locations without our ever knowing we were being considered. We may be eliminated as an industrial/business site prospect because of our size and population, but we should not be eliminated because of how we look. We can do something about our appearance.

Please join us and help get Jenkins County clean. Individuals or groups interested in being part of this effort should call the Chamber office at (478) 982- 5595.