Join the beautification effort in Cape Girardeau

We live in a beautiful city, punctuated by the Mississippi River, trees, rolling hills, and a temperate climate with beautiful spring and fall seasons. We have a unique asset with the many thousands of trees throughout our community.

I have, as mayor, been remiss in not keeping our city beautification programs identified and promoted on a continuing basis. I have always believed in and supported strong beautification programs, both commercial and residential. These programs need to be supported by a coordinated effort of our municipal government.

The above paragraphs were written by me in June 2011 for this same publication. Unfortunately I have failed to follow through on my challenge to all our staff and citizens to ensure progress in this important part of our city's environment.

I am encouraged however by city council member Loretta Schneider's willingness to lead a more direct and dedicated effort. I have visited with her and she is interested in a multifaceted effort to improve our beautification efforts and also to reduce littering within our city limits. I am encouraging her to serve as council liaison to a newly formed committee of interested citizens that would ensure heightened interest and improved results in these areas. I would strongly encourage any resident who has an interest in these areas to contact city hall at 339-6320 or visit the city website (cityofcape.org) to join this committee.

I participated this past week in the annual Friends of the Park Day and observed many citizens of all ages participating in this event. This is a great event in the spring and brings new life and cleanliness to our parks and trail areas. One example of the impact of litter within our city was the effort by volunteers along the Mississippi River bank and the flood wall where 67 trash bags of litter were recovered that day.

Our parks system is professionally maintained and landscaped by our parks division. The garden clubs in our city do great work in assisting our parks department by planting, weeding and maintaining such areas as the Rose Garden, Liberty Star, the Red House and other areas.

I would, as I did last year at this time, challenge all residents, homeowners and owners of commercial and industrial properties to join this effort as we rededicate ourselves to the beautification of our great city. We also must continue to improve our municipal efforts in maintaining our rights of way and monitoring nuisance properties.

Again, my thanks to Loretta Schneider for taking this leadership role toward this effort, and I encourage citizens to call city hall at 339-6320 or visit cityofcape.org to join our new beautification committee.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.