Keep Argyle Beautiful

ARGYLE KEEP

BEAUTIFUL

by Diane Ciarloni | photo courtesy of Kathy Salisbury

Kathy Salisbury considers herself blessed because she doesn’t work at a paid job outside the home. That means she’s free to devote many, many unpaid volunteer hours to her passion of keeping Argyle and its overall environment beautiful and clean.

Salisbury joined Keep Argyle Beautiful (KAB) in 2009, two years after it was established, and serves as its president. One of the main features of the organization is the Argyle Pride Award which, for 2021, went to a beautiful, recently sold bluebonnet-covered property on Old Justin Road. Certainly, nothing could represent Texas better than the 50-year-old fields of the official state flower.

The Argyle Pride Award, previously known as Yard of the Month, is under the continuing sponsorship of The Real Estate Station, which is just one example of the mutually beneficial business/town relationships Salisbury has helped put together. The selection is based on a Peoples’ Choice format, with the winner receiving a Home Depot gift card.

KAB offers fun and camaraderie, but it’s also about serious business.

“We’re a small but hardworking group,” Salisbury said. “We focus on our town’s beauty as well as being conscious of everything we can do to be environmentally positive. We look for new projects each year, along with ways to finance and implement them.”

She continued, “Our overall goal is to preserve our local environment but also enhance and beautify it when possible. That includes educating our young people, our schools and businesses, and all our residents in ways to prevent pollution and to eliminate litter. We want to elevate the public interest of our townspeople so they can develop a sense of personal responsibility for a clean, healthy, beautiful town.”

And none of that is easy!

Civic pride comes naturally to some people but not to most. Sometimes, the only way to motivate its development is through concrete examples that can be seen, touched, and admired.

“I think we accomplished that with the American flag program we started three years ago,” Salisbury said. “We partnered with Denton and with the Boy Scouts, selling $50 subscriptions to our local businesses along Hwy 377. The scouts put up the flags for special events (July 4, Memorial Day, etc.), and it really looks beautiful.”

KAB, as an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), enjoys the free use of roadside cleanup equipment, online and local seminars on environmental topics, training programs, a variety of supplies, and the ability to apply for grants.

“We have our roadside cleanup programs, our Adopt-A-Spots, the Graham Cemetery cleanup, the Christmas Tree Lighting Festival, the American flags, the Argyle Pride Award, volunteering in local schools to create programs, and we just applied to KTB for a grant to begin a new carton recycling program,” Salisbury said.

KAB received the 2015 Governors Community Achievement Award for its leadership, coordination, public awareness, and litter prevention. Included was $110,000 to use in conjunction with a TXDot project within the town.

“We’re also working with beauty salons and with Nordstrom Beauty Cycle to collect used beauty product containers,” Salisbury added. We’re always willing to hear suggestions and new possibilities from residents and businesses. This is work we do from our hearts, and our hearts are always open.”