FLORENCE, SC –The fortress of brick and concrete that towers above downtown Florence showed a softer side Wednesday as volunteers with Keep Florence Beautiful spruced up the landscaping at the Florence City-County Complex.Giving the landscaping a facelift was a no-brainer, organizers said.
“The city-county complex is right here in the middle of town. It probably has more activity of anyone except the mall, but it was not one of the most attractive places,” Bill Pickle, vice chairman of Keep Florence Beautiful(KFB), said.
The foliage was made possible by a $5,000 donation from BB&T, which also supplied more than a dozen volunteers throughout the day to help with the work. Other volunteers included city workers and members of the Florence Boys & Girls Club who were scheduled to stop by in the afternoon. County inmates also helped with the landscaping.
“I couldn’t have asked for more help then this,” Pickle said. “Now, I’ll tell you there are some here who don’t know an oak tree from a banana tree, but we’re all having fun and doing hard work and it’s going to be really nice when we get through.”
Victor Webster, another KFB volunteer, said work began about 6 a.m. and continued through the evening until the project was complete. Volunteers were rewarded with a small cookout on the steps of the complex when the landscaping transformation was complete.
#WeAreKFB 
I had no idea we had events like this. I wish the news would build these things up more in the paper. I would love to participate. When I get my riding lawn mower again I would love to take care of the Pineneddles area from La Petite to Ebenezer Road. It needs a lot of work and the county’s imput into keeping it mowed and litter being picked up is a joke.
William E Rauh
William – we would love for you to get involved! Thanks for checking out our site and for your feedback. You can come meet us out at the Great American Cleanup on March 23rd at Timrod Park. Our board members and volunteers will be there from 8-noon. More info here: http://www.keepflorencebeautiful.org/cleanup – if you cant make it send us your contact info at kfbboard@keepflorencebeautiful.org and we’ll be in touch.