PalmettoPride made an exciting announcement that it has taken over the management of the statewide volunteer litter pickup program Adopt-A-Highway. The announcement was made at a Beaufort County Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer Appreciation Event on Saturday, October 20, at the LEED Certified Department of Special Needs Building in Beaufort.

[caption id="attachment_8635" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Adopt-a-Higway2.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-8635" title="Adopt a Higway2" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Adopt-a-Higway2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> Veronica C. Miller, left, Keep Beaufort County Beautiful coordinator, presents Nancy Schaaf a trailblazer plaque for organizing the first Trash and Litter Control program for Beaufort County in the 1980’s. Nancy was one of several honorees at a luncheon sponsored by Palmetto Pride, the statewide litter and beautification organization.[/caption]

Attending the special event were more than 60 volunteers from Beaufort County Adopt-A-

[caption id="attachment_8636" align="alignright" width="227"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Adopt-a-Highway1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8636" title="Adopt a Highway1" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Adopt-a-Highway1-227x300.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="300" /></a> Chris Langan, at right, poses with Alissa Portillo and Niomi Portillo in front of the Adopt-A-Highway sign honoring the memory of her son Zach. Chris maintains two and a half miles of Broad River Boulevard with monthly litter pickups through the help of family and friends. Alissa is Zach’s sister and Niomi, his niece. If your group would like to help maintain the beauty of our county, contact Keep Beaufort County Beautiful coordinator, Veronica C. Miller at 255-2741 or veronicam@bcgov.net for details.[/caption]

Highway (AAH) groups, Beaufort County AAH representatives and council members. Beaufort County was chosen as the location to kick off the new partnership because it was the location of the first AAH group in South Carolina back in 1987. There are now more than 2,500 volunteer groups across the state.

Linda Shadel, Director of Operations for PalmettoPride, and Veronica Miller, Beaufort County Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator, thanked the volunteers for their efforts, fielded questions about the program and recognized members of the first Adopt-A-Highway group.

PalmettoPride and SC Department of Transportation officially announced this partnership October 15. PalmettoPride will manage the daily operations of the program and will work on increasing recognition of the groups and marketing the program. SCDOT will continue to provide bags and vests and pick up bags after quarterly cleanups.

For more information on Adopt-A-Highway, contact Sarah Lyles at 877-725-7733 or slyles@palmettopride.org.