April 11, 2006
For Immediate Release

Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Hosting "Tire Round Up" — Tire Collection Event

CUMBERLAND, R.I. (April 11, 2006) – The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, in partnership with Keep The Valley Beautiful and Firestone Complete Auto Care in Warwick, will hold a one day tire collection event for the Blackstone Valley community. The "Blackstone Valley Tire Round Up" will be held on Saturday, April 29, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Ann & Hope Parking Lot.

Last year's event collected over 8,000 tires, preventing them from ending up in the Blackstone River in the future.

The collection day is part of the Keep America Beautiful's Great American Cleanup™, a series of community improvement events held nationally between March 1 – May 31.

Firestone Complete Auto Care, a National Sponsor for the Great American Cleanup™, agrees to recycle one million tires nationwide, free of charge. Dan Donovan, the manager of Firestone Complete Auto Care on Bald Hill Road in Warwick, has been involved in the tire collecting event over the past few years by providing the tire disposal services.

"It has been great to work with the Blackstone Valley over the past few years for the tire collection event," said Donovan, "it feels good to know that we’re preventing tires from polluting the Blackstone Valley."

Residents from the Blackstone Valley's cities and towns are encouraged to bring tires that they may have on their property. Disposal of rimless tires are free and tires with rims are $2.50 each, a portion of which will be used to help fund Keep The Valley Beautiful program.

The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council is looking for volunteers for the event to guide people into the Ann & Hope parking lot and to load tires into the trailers. People interested in helping can contact Kristin Zawistowski at 401-724-2200 or at kristin@tourblackstone.com.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. is a national, nonprofit community improvement and public education organization, founded in 1953, whose goal is to form community partnerships dedicated to engaging individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. Through partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, businesses and government, Keep America Beautiful's programs motivate millions of volunteers annually to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, thereby creating healthier, safer and more livable community environments. The Great American Cleanup™ is one of its many programs that encourage people to care for communities through volunteer participation. The Keep The Valley Beautiful program is a new program for the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council.

Keep America Beautiful's Great American Cleanup™ is the nation's largest community improvement program, built on a foundation of individual responsibility and civic pride. In 2006, the program will mobilize over 2 million volunteers in 15,000+ communities from coast to coast in a total of over 30,000 community improvement events… targeting areas of greatest need and getting the job done! Great American Cleanup™ activities improve the quality of life in each participating community. The Great American Cleanup™ is made possible through the support of Keep America Beautiful, our participating programs, millions of volunteers, and our National Sponsors.

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About the Chamber

The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce serves the Blackstone River Valley's eleven member towns in Massachusetts: Blackstone, Douglas, Grafton, Hopedale, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northbridge, Sutton, Upton, and Uxbridge. The mission of the chamber is to promote the economic vitality of the Blackstone Valley, meet the needs of the Chamber's business members, while providing leadership on issues which impact the economy and quality of life in the Valley.