On September 14, 2018, I will discontinue all of my Cherokee County anti-litter efforts and want to thank all of those that have been, and continue this effort.

One of my personal goals was to unite people of differing ethnicities, political affiliations, and religious preferences by working together TO RESTORE THE TRUE BEAUTY TO AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL by picking up litter.

I will leave the future of this anti-litter effort in the hands of those that are more than capable of doing so, and they consist of Cherokee County residents, parents, educators, students, sporting spectators, news media organizations, Girls Scout Troops, churches, American Legion Posts, VFW posts, Chamber of Commerce organizations, Boy Scout Troops, NCDOT construction departments, businesses, civic organizations, and our elected leaders.

Our elected and appointed community leaders must be the ones to lead this anti-litter effort, they must pull the string and lead from the front and publically recognize the efforts of the anti-litter groups and individuals in their community for their efforts. A THANK YOU GOES A LONG WAY.

For over two years, the students of Cherokee County have been taught why litter doesn’t benefit the image and economy of Cherokee County and our students are now getting the anti-litter message into their homes.

In 2018, our Murphy American Legion Post 96 submitted an entry that was the “feature story” in the 2018 American Legion “Dispatch” where Martin’s Creek School and Murphy Middle School were honored for their anti-litter efforts.

After 9 years of anti-litter efforts in North Carolina and Arizona, I have reached the point where I can no longer be effective and wish those who continue this effort through their words, actions, and leadership much success.

There is no single reason that I’m discontinuing my efforts, but one big reason is that there are too few people doing too much for too many people doing nothing. If everyone would contribute their Words and Actions, we will get the desired Results. If our elected and appointed officials would promote and participate in litter events on the third Saturday of February, May, August, and November ~ or four dates of their choosing ~ along with inviting all of the anti-litter advocates to a year-end meeting and thank them for their efforts, then real change occur.

Lastly, I can’t thank Publisher David Brown, Editor Matthew Osborne and their staff enough for the news coverage they have given this effort along with Tim Radford-WKRK, and I hope that others will reach out to them so that Cherokee County will continue to benefit from its true beauty.

Animo et fide every day.

Gary Chamberlain
Spokesman-North Carolina Litter-Free Coalition
PO Box 98, Murphy, NC 28906
FolksvilleUSA@gmail.com
(928) 202-1186 (AZ cell)

Gary Chamberlain
Murphy American Legion Post 96-Media Liaison
North Carolina Litter-Free Coalition-Spokesman