Judy Curtis and Dan Brizzle had their contribution to Keep Horowhenua Beautiful recognised with Lifetime Membership Certificates.
Judy Curtis and Dan Brizzle had their contribution to Keep Horowhenua Beautiful recognised with Lifetime Membership Certificates.
Two tidy Kiwis from Levin have been recognised for the efforts in helping keep their community clean.
Judy Curtis and Dan Brizzle were both presented with Lifetime Membership Certificates at a special presentation ceremony at Horowhenua District Council last week.
Between them they have planted hundreds of plants, picked up tonnes of trash and painted over acres of graffiti as part of the Keep Horowhenua Beautiful team.
The awards were presented by councillor Victoria Kaye-Simmons, chairwoman of Keep Horowhenua Beautiful and deputy chairwoman of Keep NZ Beautiful, who said they were well-deserved.
"We are recognising two incredible local volunteers... they are being acknowledged for their commitment to Keeping Horowhenua Beautiful in which they have played a large part within this group that works collaboratively alongside council with an environmental ethos in mind," she said.
"Judy and Dan, on behalf of your community we would like to genuinely say thank you. Thank you for all your hard work and commitment to the ongoing pride and vibrancy of the Horowhenua."
Kaye-Simmons said the pair were part of the wider Keep NZ Beautiful nationwide programme that mobilised more than 100,000 volunteers every year, and were committed to their own piece of paradise - Horowhenua.
Keep Horowhenua Beautiful chairwoman Victoria Kaye-Simmons is also deputy chairwoman of Keep New Zealand Beautiful.
She said they didn't just help clean up the district either. Some of their work also involved educational programmes within our schools that highlighted the organisation's "three Rs" initiative of reduce, reuse and recycle.
"Both Judy and Dan have dedicated many hours of gardening over at Thompson House, who are now an accredited Green Flag garden. Their participation also around planting days, which have included local parks and areas around waterways, also including the large job of eradication, of unsightly graffiti in and around the township," she said.
"Our national clean up days that happen every September, Judy and Dan have specifically been involved with this particular event over many years. This involves the collection and weighing of litter and reporting, that goes back to KNZB headquarters."
Brizzle, 80, said he got involved in Keep Horowhenua Beautiful because, after living and working in Horowhenua all his life, he wanted to give back something to the town and he was proud of the efforts of everyone in the organisation.
"The town has really sharpened up. There's still a hang of a lot to do, but it is looking really sharp compared to what it used to," he said.
He was particularly proud of the beautification of Thompson House, one of two "Green Flag" areas in Horowhenua, the other being Driscoll Park in Manakau.
Judy Curtis and Dan Brizzle had their contribution to Keep Horowhenua Beautiful recognised with Lifetime Membership Certificates.
Curtis said on retirement 16 years ago she made up her mind to be community-minded and to be involved in the community as much as she could, and that the volunteers at Keep Horowhenua Beautiful did a great job.
Now 86, she had been with Keep Horowhenua Beautiful for 25 years after originally being introduced through Altrusa.
"We should all take pride in our town," she said.
"But I would like to see people pick up their own rubbish."
