2006 Essay Contest Winners were Erik Crosby (first place), Anna Blake Keeley (second place), and Ann Marie Wood (third place). Here are the essays:

Keep Shelby Beautiful Writing Contest
Essay by: Erik Crosby, First Place

Every day I go around Shelby, and every day I see trash everywhere. Trash doesn’t look good all over the ground. This is supposed to be the “City of PLEASANT Living”. It is not pleasant to have to see trash everywhere we go. This town is not a garbage dump, but some people treat it like that. I could probably walk down any road in this city and find beer bottles, cigarette butts, and other junk along the whole thing. We need solutions, and we need them fast. I’ve got a few we could consider.

First, we have many groups and churches picking up trash all over the community. It is not enough though. Over on Charles road, for example, once a month my church goes and picks up trash. We need a full community effort. We need to make everyone see that by littering, they are destroying this wonderful town we live in. We need to convince the churches and others groups to become more active in cleaning up.

Also, we need something else to motivate the people in town. We need to give out rewards or something for doing a good job cleaning up. It doesn’t have to be anything big. It could be like a ten dollar Wal-Mart gift card. Or it could be a free milk shake at Burger King. Adults might not think it’s much, but many kids would go pick up some trash for these things. These are just two little things to get people working.

My point is, there is garbage all over the city. We need help cleaning up. If all people see when they come to Shelby is trash, they won’t want to come back. We’ve got a beautiful city, and we need to keep it that way. If everyone helps we can truly make Shelby “The City of Pleasant Living”.

Erik Crosby

Keep Shelby Beautiful Writing Contest
Anna Blake Keeley. Second Place

Shelby is indeed a gorgeous place to live. A strong community, an attractive uptown, Shelby has all a town needs. Unfortunately, our town, like others, is flowing with litter. Litter, a polluting, calamitous monster, is taking over many areas of Shelby. Our pleasant town isn’t so pleasant, not with trash and rubbish nearly everywhere! But we haven’t lost the war with garbage yet! And I know I can make a difference in Shelby!

One section of Shelby I’ve noticed is on garbage overload is the road to Williams Creek. Each time we drive past it I cringe. Old cups and bottles tossed carelessly out the window, bags and paper, and who knows what else? And this isn’t the only road like this in Shelby.

What can I do about this though? I’m just a thirteen year old girl! Beep; wrong! For starters, everyone can help, it all adds up! A solution I am willing to try is to get some volunteers and friends and organize a pickup team. For example, every Saturday afternoon we could take trash bags and gloves and clean up the road! But, people are still littering. So, we need to educate everyone about how disastrous litter is! I could write an article in the paper every so often about NO LITTERING and how regular people can recycle and help the environment.

My solution; to organize a group and clean up the road to Williams Creek, or any road, and to write an article in the paper, is surely the best. These suggestions are easy and affordable. A little care, trash bags, and good workers; that’s all it take to show off Shelby’s beauty.

Everyone can help make our little part of the universe a better, cleaner place. What you want people to think of your yard or your town, that’s up to you. Shelby is a wonderful place to live, let’s show the world that we care about our city! Thank you for your time.

Anna Blake Keeley

Keep Shelby Beautiful Writing Contest
Essay by: Ann Marie Wood, Third Place

I have noticed that litter along the grass around Shelby Middle School is a very huge problem! It’s unacceptable for students to throw trash around the campus and not think twice about it! Littering is a sin, and should not be accepted.

To reduce the trash around Shelby Middle School, the principal should order trash cans consisting of three colors. Sixth grade would have blue, seventh grade would have orange, and eighth grade would have green. Each of the trash cans should be placed around the school. And every student should pick up trash and place the trash into their grade’s color.

Every month, the janitors should count every full bag of trash taken out of the cans. Whichever grade has the most number of bags should receive an award for this act. Some ideas include: Free time in the gym, listening to music in class, no homework for one full week, or outside time.

As a seventh grader, I strongly recommend my solution to the litter problem. If this solution was to take place at Shelby Middle School. I would try my very hardest to get as many bags as full as I possibly could, and I would encourage my fellow classmates to do the same! This solution will resolve the litter problem 100%!

Ann Marie Wood