State Cleanest City contest set for this week

Judges will tour Houma Friday morning as part of the 2015 Louisiana Cleanest City competition, as Terrebonne Parish officials cheer the city on toward the next level of the statewide competition.

Houma won the district level of the competition last month and is now competing against seven other cities in Louisiana, said Linda Henderson, Terrebonne Parish beautification coordinator.

One of the highest scoring components in the competition is community involve-

ment, for which Houma got the highest possible score. Besting the competition has been seen as a pet project of Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet. The competition has given parish officials a bully pulpit from which they have tried to make residents better aware of issues like littering.

“I’m very proud of that because each year it seems like we get more and more interest from the community,” Henderson said. “And as far as President Claudet and I are concerned, that’s what it’s all about is educating the community on the litter issue in our parish and encouraging them to get involved.”

The Louisiana Federation of Garden Clubs sponsors the Cleanest City contest. Almost every parish in the state has a garden club that is affiliated with the federation.

The division in which Houma is competing is for cities ranging in population from 15,000 to 50,000 people and includes Hammond, Terrytown, Opelousas, Sulpher and Natchitoches.

Judges for the state level of the competition will arrive in Houma tomorrow night. On Friday morning, the judges will begin their tour of Houma at the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum.

The judges will begin their 45-minute tour along the Bayou Walk at Bayou Terrebonne, then turn onto New Orleans Boulevard. They will view the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center area. Then it’s on to Jim Bowie Park, where they will see oak trees planted by mothers of armed forces members who died in WWII. Various homes will be visited on Bayou Black Drive, followed by visits to a nursing home and government buildings.

Volunteers helped clean up the route before during the district judging, including volunteer employees from Entergy and Home Depot. Those efforts, Henderson and other officials said, were integral to winning the district competition.

“I think it gives you an indication of the amount of pride our citizens have in the community in which they live and also indicates to us how much we want to make our community a better place,” Claudet said.

‘I’m very proud of that because each year it seems like e get more and more interest from the community.’

Linda Henderson, parish beautification director and problem solver

Entergy volunteers help clean up Houma for the district level competition of the Cleanest City Contest, hosted by the Louisiana Federation of Garden Clubs.

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