“Honoring the Past While Embracing the Future”
After 33 years in Old Alabama Town, Alabama PALS has moved to a new location! As you can imagine after 33 years in that building, there was a lot of sifting and sorting that needed to take place. We found original minutes from some of the first PALS board meetings; we found newspaper clippings from around the state advertising the “new” Adopt-A-Mile program; and we even found the original PALS stuffed animal mascot, “Seymour the Dinosaur!” We had some laughs going through those old documents. They are now all safely filed away in our new office if anyone would like some interesting reading material.
The one thing that seemed to be a constant in all the material we found was the passion, heart, and dedication to the mission that each of the founding members of PALS had for this organization. That dedication along with each volunteer that has bought into those ideals along the way has made this organization stronger and more vital each year. It is rare nowadays to see organizations have the sort of success and longevity PALS has had, and that is a credit to the founders for building it on a very solid foundation.
How can we possibly talk about PALS’ past without mentioning Spencer Ryan? With the steady leadership of Spencer Ryan for these past 38 years, this organization has stayed true to our mission of “Alabama Communities Working Together for a Cleaner and More Beautiful Alabama.” If you ever had the pleasure of working with Spencer, you know exactly why this organization has had the longevity and success it has had. In the 10 years I worked for Spencer, I watched him lead with a humble spirit but a firm belief that the work we do is important and that we are absolutely nothing without community connections and our amazing volunteers.
In this newsletter, you will see the new award we added to this year’s Governor’s awards in honor of Spencer. It
is called the “Spencer Ryan Community Connections” Award, and it is given to a county or community that has gone the “extra mile” to bring schools, city and county leaders, law enforcement, and local businesses together to create a community litter plan. We hope this award encourages other counties to set goals and get everyone on the same page when it comes to litter prevention and removal in their areas.
Speaking of the Governor’s Awards, we had a lovely luncheon this year and gave out 65 awards to deserving volunteers, schools, students, law enforcement officers, businesses, cities, and counties. We were thrilled to have a welcome video from Governor Ivey herself to thank the many volunteers that made 2024 such a success! Secretary of State Wes Allen gave our remarks, and Secretary Hal Taylor from ALEA helped hand out our Law Enforcement Awards again this year. Many of our amazing corporate sponsors and other partners were represented, as well. As you are planning your cleanups for 2025, notice any individuals, law enforcement officers, businesses or elected officials that are going above and beyond and nominate them for next year’s awards! It is a great way to recognize those that are doing such good work.
On September 21st, in conjunction with the ADCNR, 31 outstanding zone captains, over 2,000 volunteers, and the most supportive corporate sponsors including our Presenting Sponsor, the Poarch Creek Indians, we conducted another very successful Alabama Coastal Cleanup. It was one of the most beautiful days we have had in years for the Coastal Cleanup, as you will see in the pictures on the following pages. There was over 10,000 pounds of litter collected and over 200 pounds of recycling sorted by Osprey Initiative. The two most collected items were cigarette butts and plastic bottles, with over 1,000 of each of those being picked up. Go ahead and make plans to join us for the 2025 cleanup! It is always the 3rd Saturday in September.
As we look to the future of PALS in a new location and under new leadership, we will continue to honor the past and stay true to the mission that has gotten us this far. We will maintain the wonderful partnerships with ALDOT, ADECA, ADCNR, ACCA, ACCS and more. We will continue to foster relationships with the communities in our state that desire to have a cleaner and more beautiful community. We will continue to be grateful for each member, volunteer and corporate sponsor of PALS. There are only three of us here in the PALS office, so it really is YOU that makes this place so special and will continue to for many years to come.
In closing, we look forward to working with each of you in 2025. Let’s make the 2025 “Don’t Drop It on Alabama” Spring Cleanup in April the largest and most effective statewide cleanup ever. Let us know how we can best assist your cities, counties, groups and communities in preparing for the 2025 statewide cleanup. We also want to extend our thanks to Coca-Cola UNITED for once again serving as Title Sponsor for the event. Thank you for all you have done in 2024, and let’s make 2025 our best year yet!
— Jamie Mitchell