By Rebecca Miller
The Wauseon Home and Business Beautification Gold Medal Achievement Awards were issued for Terry Johnson, Scott Tanier, Douglas Roloff, Corey and Stephanie Abrigo, Shawn Holmes, Leona Huner, Sarah Rupp, Dixie Baldwin and Continental Plaza at the first Annual Wauseon Beautification Award Ceremony. The ceremony was held on Saturday, August 3 at 11 a.m. at the South Park Gazebo and those who were able to come were given their certificates by Mayor Kathy Huner.
This summer, a non profit group calling themselves the Wauseon Beautification Team or WBT, sent out an invitation to all businesses and residents in the city to participate in making their yards beautiful. The deadline to join was July 26 and participants were encouraged to “Freshen up the outside or their home and/or business” and be rewarded for their efforts. The yards or businesses would be judged on the following criteria: no weeds, curb appeal, mulch / gravel, stones / pavers, lawn, plants / flowers, water features, well kept bushes, creativity / design / utilization and trees.
At the award ceremony, it was explained that since the number of participants for this first year was not as many as they had expected, it had been changed from a competition to a recognition of all who worked hard to beautify their yards. They hope that next year it will at least double in number and they can make it a competition with prizes.
The members of WBT were the judges and took the time to go around and look over every yard that had been signed up. Members include President Kayla Baker, Vice President Victor Cales and his wife Shelly, Rebecca Cales, Robin Weber, Jazzi Weber, Brody Weber, Chris and Woody Bowers, Dean Torres and Christine Etsel.
Saturday had perfect hot weather for an outdoor presentation and everyone gathered in the shade on camping chairs, while the mayor, President and VP sat in the Gazebo. Kayla Baker welcomed everyone and explained that the group got started when a grant was awarded a few years ago, to the city to improve the ambiance. Since then they have planted flowers and bushes throughout the city and by the train tracks.”
“They are “considering taking the job of painting the light poles as the fire department could use a break,” she said. It is all purely volunteer and doesn’t cost the city anything as the flowers and pavers they purchased were paid for by the grant. The group hopes that the community will want to come together and do the little things that would give the city a facelift. “It makes us feel more like a community,” Baker said.
Every other Monday after city council meeting, the WBT meets at Oasis church on Enterprise. They are continually trying to come up with new ways to give back and want Wauseon residents to know that everyone is welcome.
Mayor Huner shared with the group, with a chuckle, that the baskets which they put downtown are not for trash so they have planted flowers in them to make that clear. “We want people coming through to see what a lovely town we are, a great place to live, a peaceful town. They remember the star and that is an icon for Wauseon. We used to go for Sunday drives, and notice all the beauty. We want our town to always look like a Sunday afternoon drive.” She said they hope to extend this to Shoop Avenue as well. She commended WBT, saying it is awesome, all volunteer, full of ideas and people who actually step up and do the work.
She added, “They pluck weeds as it is needed, Brody waters the flowers and prays for the city at the same time as he does it. We would love to have more people join up and make it grow. Each person has a strength and it is great to have each one work with their strength. All the flowers were purchased by donation. The city has not had to pay any money. We hope to get to the murals, too!” She expressed a desire to get the chamber, rotary and other civic groups involved and over the years it will really bloom.
She also shared that during the years Jerry Matheny, the mayor of Wauseon then, would stop by her yard and tell her he appreciated how pretty they kept their yard, and that filled her with pride. Now she is the one being thrilled to see better curb appeal around town. She finished by thanking everyone for coming and for the effort that they put into their yards.
V.P. Cales clarified that for those who think they don’t have time, “you can plug in as often or as seldom as you can! Come to a meeting every now and then, pull a weed downtown when you see it, but don’t let the inability to get extremely involved keep you from doing it at all.” The group can be seen on FaceBook at Wauseon Beautification Team.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
