National Public Works Week

City of Westminster, Colorado

The attached pictures are provided as requested for the article in a future publication. The group pictured ages 4-5 years old is from Career Enrichment Center a Public School in Denver. The future Fleet Technicians visited our shop to learn about all of the neat equipment the City of Westminster uses to keep the fleet rolling for Public Works and various City Departments/Divisions. The Fire and Police Departments had representatives on site to teach them the importance of their jobs and public safety. The Streets Department dropped by to show them the graders and trucks used to help keep the roads open in winter and repaired in the summer. The kids were delighted to receive badges from the Fire Department and PW PAWS coloring books from Fleet Division.

The community outreach is an important part of what we do as public servants. The cooperation with schools helps them understand the importance of our work.

The additional picture in file is the winner of the monthly newsletter scramble out of the NUTS AND BOLTS NEWSLETTER the Fleet Division puts out monthly. The winner received a bucket of fun including a gift certificate from a local dealer, polishing kit, towels and brushes for cleaning on a sunny day and depending on the time of year a seasonal gift in this case a poinsettia for Christmas. The newsletter is used to updated employees on safety tips for driving and upkeep of their vehicles, keep them informed of pending legislation regarding fleet activities and/or City of Westminster updates on vehicle usage, programs and procedures.

Texas

The Texas Chapter APWA will have a full and festive National Public Works Week. The seven branches of the Texas Chapter will all individually host PWW activities including Scholarship Golf Tournaments, proclamation signings, and BBQ dinners, all activities designed to bring attention the value of the public works employee.

The Texas Chapter will proudly honor APWA Top Ten recipient Jimmy B. Foster, P. E. with a reception 5:00 p.m. May 16th at the Plano Centre, Plano , Texas. Invited guests include APWA President Tom Trice and State Senator Florence Shapiro, past recipient of the APWA Distinguished Service Award, and various City of Plano dignitaries.

May 17th, the Texas Chapter will gather on the lawn of the State Capitol for a noon BBQ for all state representatives and their staff. The old fashion BBQ served under a large white tent will introduce many to the unsung heroes--public works professionals.

Following lunch, Texas Chapter Board members will move inside the Capitol to the Senate floor to hear a Senate resolution declaring Public Works Week which will be introduced by Sen. Jon Lindsay of Houston.

President Ron Harper will lead the Board members to the office of Governor Rick Perry. Governor Perry will sign a proclamation declaring May 16-21 Texas Public Works Week. This will be the third year that Texas Chapter Board members have met with Texas Governor Perry.

City of Olympia, Washington

http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/publicworks/American_Goverment_Award.asp

Alachua County, Florida

Employees of the Public Works Department will shine during Public Works Week, May 15 to 21. On Tuesday, May 17, Alachua County students will see how garbage and recycling are processed at the Leveda Brown Environmental Park. Wednesday, May 18, City and County heavy equipment crews compete at the Alachua County Fairgrounds. Thursday, May 19, students tour the Public Works Compound in Hague, which highlights heavy equipment, the sign shop, fleet management, and more. Thursday is also the day to tour Animal Services, with its many adoptable animals. The public is invited to any of these activities. Please call 352-374-5213 for an appointment.

http://www.publicworks.alachua.fl.us

Flyer (PDF)

State of Alaska

State of Iowa

State of Wisconsin

State of Tennessee

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has declared the week of May 15 � 21 as National Public Works Week in Tennessee. The governor's proclamation was presented to a delegation from the Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works Association (TCAPWA), including its president, Bo Mills, Public Services director for the City of Germantown.

Mills accepted the award on behalf of the thousands of public works professionals that construct and maintain the public infrastructure and facilities throughout Tennessee. These professionals also provide the state with quality of life services, such as potable water, sanitary sewers, adequate storm water management, refuse collection and disposal and transportation services.

Mills said, "We appreciate that Governor Bredesen has set aside this week to bring attention to the contributions that public works professionals make every day to our health, safety, comfort and quality of life."

Accepting the proclamation with Mills were Bob Freudenthal, American Public Works Association president-elect of Hendersonville; Everett Cowan, president of Gresham, Smith & Partners, and Don Majors, field representative for Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper.

Pictured below:
First row, left to right: Mike Flatt, Beverly Gillespie, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, Bo Mills, Don Maiors, Jack Marcellis
Second row, left to right: Jim Durrett, Ken Donaldson, John Calvert, Bob Freudenthal, Everett Cowan, Mickey Sullivan

Proclamation (PDF)

State of Mississippi

Governor Haley Barbour signed a proclamation announcing May 15-21, 2005, as Public Works Week in the State of Mississippi. The proclamation urges "citizens to join with representatives of governmental agencies and the American Public Works Association in activities and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers and administrators and to recognize the substantial contributions they have made to our national health and welfare."

City of Palm Bay, Florida

http://www.palmbayflorida.org/Public%20Information/public_works_week.htm

City of Anacortes, Washington

The City of Anacortes Public Works Department hosts an Annual Open House at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. We normally have 100-200 second, third and fourth graders attend. Although, it's open to the community and people of all ages are welcome. It's popular with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. We even had a preschool class come last year.

Our Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators give tours of the plant and explain how we treat the wastewater to make it safe to discharge into the environment. Our Lab is open so people can view the organisms that treat our waste under the microscope. We have several displays that educate the public about recycling and composting, engineering systems and surveying equipment, underground locating and water conservation. Our Water Treatment Plant has a blind water taste test where the City's tap water is compared to bottled water and wins every year. But, by far the biggest attraction are the rides on the garbage trucks and street sweeper.

We've had a tremendous response from the kids in the past years including colored drawings they made of the equipment they saw at the plant and thank you letters. We look forward to it every year and always have a good time.

Flyer (PDF) Press Release (PDF) Kid's Questions (PDF)

City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Resolution (PDF)

City of Tamarac, Florida

State of Alabama

Proclamation (PDF)

City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

In recognition of National Public Works Week, the City of Hamilton is hosting a variety of displays, tours and events throughout the city showcasing the many services provided that bring our city to life. Event activities include: a tour of Hamilton's first waterworks; a Transit bus rodeo, where Councillors, media and senior staff will compete to see who can manoevure around the route; launch of the Yellow Fish Road program, launch of a new program "Hailing Kits" that will provide those who are visually impaired with enhanced service and safety; organized volunteers will beautifying Hamilton's shoreline with a litter clean-up; various divisions will be setting up mall displays; and kicking off the week is Enviornment Day, a one-stop drop-off for residents to responsibly dispose of household items.

http://www.hamilton.ca/public-works/community-education/PW-Week-2005/default.asp

State of Nebraska

Pictured from left to right are:
Past President: Kathleen Alexander, State Treasurer: Ron Ross, Treasurer: Dan Freshman, President: Joe Soucie, Director: Fred Thole, Secretary: Greg Goldman, Director: Mark Christiansen

State of Pennsylvania

City of Gainesville, Florida

City, County Public Works Staff Show Their Stuff at Equipment Rodeo

Gainesville, FL - A friendly competition between City of Gainesville and Alachua County public works equipment operators to celebrate National Public Works Week kicks off at 10 A.M. on Wednesday, May 18, 2005, at the Alachua County Fairgrounds. Local committee member Gina Hawkins says the equipment rodeo, educational displays, and other activities are planned to foster a better understanding of public works activities in and around Gainesville and their impact on our quality of life.

Students from several local elementary schools, public works employees, and elected officials are invited to attend. Interim Public Works Director Stu Pearson hopes the celebration will acquaint young people to the professional opportunities in a growing field.

In the City of Gainesville, the Public Works Department is responsible for: transportation services, including traffic engineering; street paving and sweeping; solid waste and recycling collection services; stormwater management for flood control and the improvement of streams, lakes and other bodies of water; mass transit; and engineering services, among other functions. Programs include: the Bicycle/ Pedestrian Program; Mosquito Control; and the multi-agency supported Clean Creeks Initiative. For additional information, call 334-5070.

http://www.cityofgainesville.org/

City of Keizer, Oregon

The City of Keizer Public Works Department kicked off National Public Works Week on Monday, May 16th by hosting an open house at their City Public Works Shop with the theme of "Focused on our Community 24/7". The event took place in conjunction with the Fire Districts National EMS Week at their fire station which is located adjacent to the Public Works Shop. The turnout was amazing with well over 600 visitors including children from all age groups. The Open House was targeted at the whole community for some public outreaching on educational topics and awareness of our infrastructure and how it works.

One of the many items we had on display was our Proclamation that had been signed by the Mayor proclaiming May 15th-21st, 2005 "National Public Works Week".

We hosted a no cost raffle with tons of donated prizes from local merchants, an educational water booth, Parks and Recreation booth, Stormwater and catch basin demos, backflow device information exhibit, Groundwater display, Utility locate information booth and outside had live tapping demos, backhoe operation rides, a new hydrant demo and one of our Franchise Utility companies giving out free hot dogs. There were many more things going on and a lot of informational literature to take home. All and all it was a night of fun and education for the whole family and community!

http://www.keizer.org/

City of Burlington, North Carolina

The Mayor and City Council of the City of Burlington proclaimed the week of May 15-21, 2005 as National Public Works Week in Burlington. The proclamation was presented to the Director of Public Works, Mr. Gary Hicks, and all the public works division heads at its May 17 Council meeting.

On Friday, May 20, a bar-b-que and chicken luncheon was provided by the City of Burlington for all the public works and utilities employees, special guests, retirees, all council members, department heads and the City Manager. There were putting events, horseshoe and basketball competitions and just old fashion socializing among employees. Our Sanitation, Cemetery, and Street divisions had some of their major trucks and equipment on display for everyone to see.

Each public works employee was given a T-shirt to wear at the lucheon. We had approximately 212 employees and guests to eat lunch and say thanks to the public works employees for a job well done!!!!

Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery Countty, Pennsylvania

The Public Works Department recently hosted the Sandy Run Middle School Sixth Grade Science teams (325 kids) for a field trip. The trip included a greeting and video in the Main Meeting Room, followed by a tour of the Garage and Salt Shed areas, including truck demonstrations. The groups were then brought to the Blue Mountain Recycling center off of Fitzwatertown Road where they were educated about the recycling process. The trip ended with a visit to the Camphill Road Compost site, where they learned about the mulching and composting of yard waste. Following are a few of the comments taken from Thank You notes written by the students:

Edward Lin: "Thank you for your time, for teaching us about recycling and trash. I enjoyed the short movie, and the tour throughout the back of the township building. However, we still do not want to go to school, even with all that salt on the road. What I enjoyed most was learning about mulch. It was interesting to know that the mulch had to be grinded with 160 degrees to take out a lot of bacteria."

Evelyn Hammond: Learning about the mobius was new because I always had wondered what the symbol was called. There were many aspects of recycling that I didn't know about. Now I have many reasons to recycle and do compost."

Jessica Root: "I love seeing how much people recycle and not just throwing it away carelessly even though it is trash. I loved to see how much people want to save the environment and community. I know I do."

Sara Fasano: "How do you manage to make money if the mulch is free?"

Danielle Faden: "Thank you to all the people who helped us on our trip. I enjoyed this educational field trip very much and I will now be more conscious about preserving the environment.

Jenna Meyer: "It takes a lot of work and a good nose (EEEEEW!) for that job!"

Amelia Samson: "First of all, I would like to say that I feel terrible for poor Mr. Frey. If I couldn't stand the smell for less than an hour, just imagine the smell for years after years, days after day from 7:30am to 2:00pm. I really appreciate you letting us stop by and learn about recycling and the three R's. I think that they will really help me to remember how to keep my planet healthy and clean. I especially like when we drove both of the busses onto the scale to see which one weighed more. Of course, the boy's did. Also I liked the movie. It was useful and taught me important things like what the numbers on the bottom of recyclable containers mean. I've always wondered about that"

Talianno Fosto: "When we saw the salt from China, I thought we could eat it! * WINK * WINK! *

Albert Shu: "I like the bucket truck the most. I thought it was cool how it could go so high."

Ellie Houser: "Looking at the trucks was a lot of fun too. It's so cool how they all work. I've lived near the township building my whole life, and I never saw all the awesome things those trucks can do."

Cassandra Liu: "It's amazing what our township does to recycle and help save the earth. I'm more than proud to live in Upper Dublin and I've vowed to recycle more!"

John Simone: "I learned the three R's, which are reduce, reuse, recycle. I also learned that where all the salt comes from to stop our snow days. I will find a way to destroy it all. I'm just kidding."

Cordelia Hao: "The machines and vehicles were interesting. I never knew such technology existed. Each of them had their own purposes. One was to empty brown UD trashcans, while the other lifted someone to high heights. When we came to the "salt room" I was surprised to know that the salt had been imported from China. The township was filled with excitements!"

Lindsey Benjamin: "I am very appreciative that you guys worked extremely hard for us. Without you, none of this could have happened."

Brendan Beaham: "Most of us were satisfied I knew I was, so from one of the satisfied kids, Thank You."

Emily Marvill: "All of you that helped us were very kind. We are very lucky to have a township that takes such pride in recycling and keeping our environment clean, Thanks to you!"

Miles Trent: "I would like to see the Recycling center in Philadelphia. It sounds pretty impressive."

Michael Wang: "Thanks for telling me a lot about recycling! I didn't know that we did that. I thought it was dumped into a landfill. I think it would be fun to climb up that huge mountain of trash. But it would be very stinky."

City of Greenwood Village, Colorado

2005 was the 7th year, the City of Greenwood Village Public Works Department celebrated National Public Works week by inviting first grade students to their site. The event lasted two hours and provided the opportunity for the children and their parents and teachers to learn how the department's activities provide a safe, clean and pretty environment.

The children had the opportunity to sit in large pieces of equipment as well as sit on various lawn mowers. Souvenirs were handed out at each activity station. The favorite souvenir is always a miniature street sign on which they put the letters of their name. The children returned to their classrooms wearing orange vests and with a greater awareness of snow and ice control operations, park, trail and streetscape maintenance, fleet management and the storm water systems in their neighborhoods.

Employees enjoy interacting with the children while teaching them about the services of the Public Works Department. Each year this event receives rave reviews from the children and their teachers and parents. For more information contact krowley@greenwoodvillage.com

City of Oak Harbor, Washington

The City of Oak Harbor Public Works Department celebrated the 2005 Public Works Week by honoring our retirees as well as our staff. A flag pole surrounded by bricks with the retiree's names were dedicated this year. We also had a lunch hosted by the supervisors of each division. We invited our retirees, our Mayor spoke and dedicated the flag pole and bricks. We then took pictures of the entire crew to be posted on our website. We had some tears of joy shed, a sunny day and good food. What more can you ask for. Our theme was "Together We Make A Difference". The staff were given lapel pins and water bottles with the theme on them as well to remember the day. We had a proclamation done a few weeks before and had the Public Works Week posters displayed at every city building. In addition to posting a poster at each building, here at Public Works we frame one poster each year and have them all displayed throughout the year in order along a wall in the front office.

District of Columbia

The D.C. Department of Public Works began the celebration of National Public Works Week by receiving a Proclamation from the Mayor, declaring May 15 � 21, National Public Works Week (Proclamation attached). Events during the week ranged from work-site employee celebrations and special events to annual "truck days" at area pre-schools.

Each day during the week, DPW Director, William O. Howland, Jr., Deputy Director, Mark Brown, and DPW Administrators piled into a van and visited all of the department�s administration sites to show appreciation to the hard-working employees who put the "works" in Public Works. A committee of dedicated employees from different DPW administrations (Solid Waste, Parking, Fleet, Human Capitol and Agency Support) helped to plan, coordinate and host each of the site visits.

Arriving as early as 5 a.m. to greet employees beginning their workday, the roving van filled with breakfast treats, muffins, pastries and juices traveled from location to location for impromptu celebrations. During the celebrations, employees received a congratulations letter and handshake from the Director, a DPW pen and a water bottle that reads "Thank You for All You Do," National Public Works Week, May 15 � 21, 2005. (See photos)

Adding to the festivities at Parking Services on West Virginia Avenue, a local radio personality from WPGC radio station played music and spoke with employees live at the NPWW celebration. At the Fleet Management celebration, several employees received commendation awards from their Administrator. Overall, the week of celebrations was a big success.

As part of NPWW, DPW also held its popular, bi-annual Household and Hazardous Waste and E-cycling event. We also participated in Truck Day for two preschools � Chevy Chase Baptist Church and Gan Ha Yeled school. Children and parents were excited to see and hear about all the vehicles but were especially drawn to the DPW small packer.

The week was capped off with our participation in the NPWW luncheon on Capitol Hill. Director Howland spoke before lunch, and DPW provided a display highlighting the department�s Alternative Fuel Vehicles program and the successful launch of the single-stream recycling program.

City of Pittsburg, California

The City of Pittsburg celebrated National Public Works Week on May 19th, 2005 with an Open House / Appreciation Day at its City Park. The celebration was in City Park to share with the public this year's theme, "Public Works is Everywhere You Look!" The theme was shared on all outreach materials as a reminder to the community that Public Works is everywhere maintaining and building a community. The City Council recognized this service with a Proclamation.

At City Park, each Division of the Public Works Department created displays with facts, equipment, and demonstrations about their Division's responsibility within the community. A few examples of what the community was able to learn: how water distribution and treatment worked; how graffiti is removed and abated; how a sewer line is checked and cleaned; and how traffic signals operate. A new exhibit this year was the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) booth with displays of lady bugs, mosquito fish and a preying mantis cocoon which hatched that morning. There was a barbeque along with handouts, coloring books and crayons, stickers, popcorn, recycled pencils, and orange cone hats. In addition, the two department mascots, Mr. Cone Man and Water Drop, made appearances.

Despite the rain downpour in the afternoon, approximately 425 students, teachers and parents from Pittsburg Unified School District as well as members of the community, City staff and City Council braved the weather to share in the Public Works Open House / Appreciation Day. The twenty classrooms visited each station listening and asking questions about the work staff did within the community. The students, teachers, parents and residents were impressed with the displays and all the work performed by Public Works. The twenty classrooms that RSVPed participated in an essay contest, "Why is Water important to you?", and the winner was announced the Open House. All participants received certificates.

The highlight of the day was two special demonstrations. The first was a demonstration by the water crew on how a water line is repaired. After the demonstration was a backhoe competition. Two backhoes competed placing three tires over a pole, placing a fire hydrant in a fifty-five gallon drum and then moving a piece of pipe from one spot to another. The kids were encouraged to route for their team; Bobby the Terminator or Chad the Harley Guy. Everyone was very impressed with the skill level required to operate a backhoe. In addition, in the rain, there was a tree climbing demonstration. Two members of the tree crew climbed up palm trees and demonstrated their skill level with their safety lines, gear and how they propel from tree to tree and down. The crowd held its breath watching.

It was an amazing day! All Public Works staff did an amazing job creating their exhibits and demonstrations as well as sharing about their role within the community!

Town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

The Town of Shrewsbury sponsored it's 4th Annual Kid's Equipment Day on Saturday, May 20, 2005 at the Municipal Highway Garage.

The event was sponsored by the Parks, Highway, and Water & Sewer Departments. Over 500 families enjoyed the day.

The event featured display of town equipments, truck rides, water education display, free giveways, hard hats for all the children, and instant pictures next to a sign that read Entering Shrewsbury.

Territory of Guam

Department of Public Works (DPW) -Guam will be highlighting the celebration of Public Works Week ( we extended the week to a whole quarter) by holding the Employee Recognition program on Labor Day.

We launched Public Works Celebration in May to honor the national date for the festivities by holding a Flag Raising Ceremony. The governor of Guam - Honorable Felix P. Camacho and other dignitaries were part of the ceremony. We were also honored with the presence of our fellow public servants who returned to their jobs at DPW after serving one year for our country in Iraq.

In addition we entered our float to celebrate Guam's 61st Liberation Day festivities - July 21, 2005, and placed First in the government category. As you can see we proudly displayed the 2005 Public Works National Theme - Public Works Is Everywhere You Look.

We also held sports activities.

During the Employee Recognition program on Labor Day we will be honoring the outstanding employees who continue to display dedication, perseverance and genuine love for the department by sticking it out despite the shortage of resources- to include limited fiscal support, equipment and working tools, as well as manpower. Doing MORE with LESS!

The dedicated DPW employees are GREAT!

City of Daly City, California

During the week of May 15-21, 2005, Daly City's Director of Public Works, D. Peter Gleichenhaus, led the celebration of National Public Works Week with a host of exciting activities that included a Proclamation, a news release, award presentations, public education, an employee recognition event and announcements. See the PDF file below for details.

PDF

Town of Southern Pines, North Carolina

In recognition of Public Works Week, the Town of Southern Pines hosted it first Public Works Expo.

2nd grade students from area schools attended the event which featured several displays and tours highlighting recycling, heavy equipment, the sign shop, fleet maintenance, our TV inspection unit, water quality, and work safety.

The kids were delighted to receive goodie bags filled with activity sheets, stickers, pencils, and frozen yogurt at the end of the tour.

We had a great response from the teachers that commented on how much they had learned as well. The kids sent thank you notes as well as drawings they made of the vehicles, equipment and displays exhibited.

City of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

The City of Mt Pleasant celebrated National Public Works Week on May 20th, 2005, with an Open House at the public works facility. This year�s theme was "Public Works Is Everywhere You Look," and focused on the many services provided to the community behind the scenes by our unsung heroes of public works.

Each department of the Public Works Division created display areas with information, equipment and demonstrations about their department's responsibility within the community. DPW staff provided hands-on opportunities to learn about the daily functions of engineering, streets, water, wastewater and the municipal airport. Tours of the city's wastewater treatment plant were available. Hands-on demos included checking out the surveying equipment and the sewer televising camera with the engineers. Visitors got to see how traffic signals operate and what size they actually are. Informational displays included the history and growth of the municipal airport, how water distribution and treatment works, how City sewer mains are checked and cleaned, and a show-and-tell of the various types of heavy equipment used daily in the street department. There were grilled hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy, sno-cones, cake and punch, along with handouts, coloring books and crayons, stickers, pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, balloons and yellow hard hats.

Residents, local schools and daycares within the community, career counselors from local high schools and community colleges, City staff and the City Commissioners attended the open house. A total of eleven schools and approximately 250 students, teachers and parents from the Mt Pleasant Area School District attended the event. The students visited each station and asked many thought provoking questions. In addition, approximately 50 people from the community attended and had many questions and positive comments, as well.

The Public Works staff did an excellent job creating their exhibits and sharing their talents and dedication for what they do everyday within the community. They were amazing with the children and had as much fun hosting as those attending the event. The day ended with everyone knowing one thing for sure: "Public Works Is Everywhere You Look."

City of Macon, Georgia

Public Works Week 2005 was a motivating and rewarding time for the employees as well as the community in Macon Georgia. We started in January forming a committe to organize the following events:

We commensed the week with a family day at a local park on Saturday
Sunday with a day of worship at a local church.
Pancake breakfast cooked by the Local Fire Department on Monday. Later, we convoyed to City Hall for a speech from the Mayor (C Jack Ellis)where he presented a proclammation to Director, Dexter C White. There were vehicles sent to local elementary schools for demonstration for children.
David Willis was our Shadow Student that was studying mechanics at a local career center.
The next event was our first community forum held on Public Works site location on Tuesday. The public was invited to come and discuss concerns and ideas to help us provide better customer service.
We provide health screening for the employees, including blood pressure screening by the fire department and information concerning heart maintenance and monitoring as well as cholesterol checks.
There was a tree planting memorial done for the employees retired and deceased on site represented by 2 Yoshimo Cherry Trees. Later a fish fry was provided.
Tee shirts were designed for the employees to wear.
We ended the event with a talent show and luncheon on site in our auditorium, inviting local council and vendors that donated during our events to recognize the hard work and dedication of Public Works employees.

City of Annapolis, Maryland

Adults and children of all ages came to the 2005 Public Works Expo on May 18th at City Dock, Annapolis. We put up a huge, white tent at the City Dock area, had numerous Public Works vehicles and equipment on display and children from many schools participated with their own exhibits. They climbed into Public Works equipment, did hands-on activities related to the environment and recycling, and this year, we had special guests! Rare turtles were on display and everyone was able to hold or touch them. Many made mock street name signs with their personal name on them (using reflective sign materials), and watched 4 judges test water from cities across the Unitd States and Canada. The City of Annapolis water came in FIRST PLACE and beat out 27 other entries. Also in 2005, area school children exhibited science projects that included Rain Gardens, Stormwater Management, and Recycling. They were very popular and definitely a crowd pleaser! Pine Tree seedlings, Public Works magnets, pens, rulers, and erasers were given out in "goodie" bags. Children did "rubbings' of Annapolis historic manhole covers, learned which items my be recycled versus thrown away (by doing a sorting game) and they made package bows out of magazine pages. The Mayor, Ellen Moyer, was on hand to greet the public and thank Public Works employees. Other City departments participated: Recreation and Parks had games for the children, the Transportation department brought their "Popcorn" trolley (it burns corn oil as fuel), Human Resources was on hand to promote employment in Public Works, and our environmentalists passed out the tree seedlings. After the event was over for the public, the Public Works Director awarded employees special recognition for their work thoughout the year and for longevity. We held a barbecue for the employees. This year, 2006, we'll be holding our Expo at our Operations Center, which will allow the public to see our facilities first hand. Our event is FREE and usually attended by about 500 people.

City of Annapolis Website [LINK]

Flyer of 2006 event [PDF]

Richland County, South Carolina

The Richland County Council proclaimed the week of May 15 � 21, 2005 as National Public Works Week (NPWW) in Columbia, South Carolina. The proclamation was presented to the Director of Public Works, along with some of the NPWW committee members, from County Council at their May 17th meeting.

Our 3rd year celebration started on May 17th with a Lawn Mower Rodeo race won by Facilities & Grounds Division employee, Eugene Glover.

Quite a show was presented to the third graders invited from Fort Jackson�s Hood Street Elementary School. The Employees enjoyed interacting with the children while teaching them how the department�s activities provide safety, a clean environment, road improvements, and stormwater management. The children had the opportunity to wear safety hats and vests while riding on a large piece of equipment. Our Roads & Drainage Division employee, Torell Kelly dressed as Star Wars Villain, Darth Vader, made the ride even more fun. The children enjoyed a cookout and wrapped up their day with complete bags of souvenirs.

The events of Tuesday ended with a Dump Truck Rodeo won by Hubert Gallmon, Roads & Drainage employee.

Wednesday�s events started with the �dancing� of heavy equipment as a culmination to the equipment and vehicle parade. Afterward, employees enjoyed a cookout provided by our fleet maintenance provider, First Vehicle Services and NAPA. During the cookout, the Director and Division Heads graciously allowed employees (ones with a steady arm) the opportunity to dunk them in the dunking tank. Each employee was given a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion of NPWW 2005.

Thursday�s bar-b-que was provided by a local vendor. In attendance were Public Works employees, Utilities employees, special guests, retirees, Council Members, County Administrator, and many invited Department Heads who joined in the celebration. The luncheon culminated with a raffle of prizes, generously donated from local merchants. The final event of the celebration was the Backhoe Rodeo with William Greene from Roads & Drainage taking first place.

Employee Hubert Gallmon from Roads & Drainage Division won 1st Place in the Midlands Regional Backhoe Rodeo hosted by the City of Columbia Public Works the following day. He will be competing in the State Backhoe Rodeo held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in July 2005.

Thanks to the public works employees for a job well done!!!!

May 15 - 21, 2005