by Ken Quintanilla
Guam - You've probably only glanced at it while make the loop around Oka Point in Tamuning, but efforts are underway to restore a symbolic memorial with several new improvements. Nearly three dozen volunteers took time out of their Saturday morning to take part in the Islandwide Beautification Task Force's second phase of restoring the Archbishop Felixberto C. Flores Memorial at Oka Point in Tamuning.
Project coordinator Kelly Basilia said, "Water blasting isn't easy, so I blocked off literally a whole month to do this. It will be divided into tiers. So right now we have our volunteers focusing on the inner circle right now and working their way down to the stairs and the second tier to that phase will be focusing on the outside of the ring itself."
Once its completed water blasted, the group plans to paint a mural of several of the island's cherished flowers along with planting several trees. They expect to complete the project in October. "I believe that the important of the island wide beautification task force also known as IBTF, is to not just pick up trash and recycle, but to take something that's a part of the island such as this that's very significant and you take pride and ownership and above all you have respect and love for the island," said Basilia.
IBTF, which falls under the Lieutenant Governor's Office and is zero funding running on volunteers and in-kind donations. Basilia encourages others to participate as the program does incorporate its blueprint series - Blueprint for Service, Blueprint for Leadership and Blueprint for Partnership.
Meanwhile, expect another painting to be restored namely the East Hagatna Wall featuring both the Guam and American flags. Basilia added, "And instead of just painting the wall again of what you currently already see, is we want to turn it into a mosaic wall using recycled glass, so that's where the recycling and beautification ties in together."
For more information visit the group's website at www.guamibtf.com.
