Beautification winners honored with plaques

DOWNEY - The seven 'home beautiful', two 'home improvement', five 'multi-family', and three 'business beautiful' winners of the 2010 annual Home and Business Beautification awards program, cited for their "dedicated efforts" at neighborhood beautification as well as their commendable "contribution to the enhancement of the entire community," received their certificates at brief ceremonies last week hosted by Downey's Keep Downey Beautiful.The program is also referred to as the Spring Beautification Program. The winners were given lawn signs and wall plaques to announce their citations onsite. This year's winners were: a) for home beautiful-Richard and Barbara Sterling, 9928 Casanes Avenue; Oristela Roche, 10705 Lakewood Boulevard; Daniel Ponce, 8417 Bigby Avenue; Byron and Joan Dillon, 8605 Muller Street; Cindy Sue Serrano, 13055 Corrigan Avenue; Marte and Fe San Diego, 8436 Orange Street; and Ramon and Martha Bianco, 10192 Ryerson Avenue; b) for home improvement-Michael and Bessie Bollinger, 10042 Sideview Drive; and Reginald and Danielle DeBuhr, 9923 Mattock Avenue; c) for multi-family-Stonewood Apartments, 10720 Lakewood Boulevard; Corinthian Apartments, 9063 Florence Avenue; Kimberly Thor Apartments, 9220 Telegraph Avenue; Sun Rose Villas Apartments, 11709 Downey Avenue; and Teresa Wyszomirski, 12709 Lakewood Boulevard; and d) for business beautiful-Law Offices of Steve Lopez, 8562 Florence Avenue; Point Insurance Services, 10535 Paramount Boulevard; and True Lasting Connections, 13220 Bellflower Boulevard. Every year, starting in January, an official application blank is mailed to all residents and business properties along with water bills inviting entries in the four categories that have to reach Keep Downey Beautiful by April 1. Nominations classified under religious buildings, lending institutions, restaurants, service stations, commercial buildings, retail centers, industrial buildings, and institutional buildings fall under the business beautiful category. These properties are organized by location and scored on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 the best) with the following criteria: overall general appearance, use of landscaping, creativity, neighborhood impact, and associated water conservation efforts. Carol Rowland, KDB coordinator, said the continuing positive community response to the program has been "gratifying" and thanked the individuals and concerned parties who "dedicate their time and energy to maintaining, improving and beautifying" their homes and businesses. Part of the city's public works department, KDB is dedicated to "educating the public on a variety of issues including beautification and recycling," and is the city's chief watchdog on litter, graffiti, and storm drain pollution prevention.

********** Published: June 17, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 9