KCB’s ice cream social honors retiring president Betty Graham, celebrates organization’s successes

Keep Collinsville Beautiful’s (KCB) Betty Graham made it official at the group’s July 10 ice cream social. She will be stepping down as president this year. Graham has been involved with KCB since its very beginnings, as she was one of the members of the charter group who started it back in 2011. As a born and raised member of the Collinsville community, Graham is passionately driven to help make an impact on the community. Graham says that her husband and she both grew up in Collinsville. Even after moving away to sow their fortune with different jobs, Graham said they came back to Collinsville after they retired because “it has always been home and a part of who we are.” 

Graham enjoys investing in her hometown and seeing the progress of all the effort and impact they have made. Winning the Governor’s Community Achievement 
Award the first time they ever applied has been Graham’s favorite accomplishment during her 15 years spent with KCB. 

She said that they received extra grants on top of the $90,000 they were awarded with and were able to spend $170,000 on improving the community. 

As president, Graham had several different responsibilities that ranged from helping pick up trash on the side of the road, applying for grants, planning and creating agendas and so much more. Although she plans to remain an active member on the board, Graham feels that at 85, it is time to pass the presidential role to someone else. 

What she will miss most is the people and spending time with them. She humorously said, 

“There is nothing like spending a day picking trash up off the side of the highway with someone. You will learn things about them you would never know otherwise.” 

For Graham, it has always been about helping, connecting and making a positive impact in the community in which she calls home.

KCB started 15 years ago on Valentine’s Day in 2011, when a group of community members felt a shared need to get together and do something to clean up the town. KCB has a passionate mission to improve the appearance of the town and allow the entire community a hometown to be proud of and enjoy.

Their annual ice cream social is an opportunity to reflect on the many achievements and projects KCB has accomplished and contributed over the years. Highlights of this year’s gathering included KCB’s winning the Governor’s Community Achievement Award twice. They won $90,000 for Town Square design and installation in 2013 and $90,000 in 2023 for sidewalks on the west side of Town Square to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in 2026.

KCB helps maintain and upgrade the landscape of Town Square with their many different projects. The very first project KCB completed was building the “Welcome” signs and plantings on each north and south end of town. They have added a memorial bench and time capsule to the Town Square and have continued an ongoing Memorial Brick project, as well. During the different holidays, KCB decorates downtown and the Town Square where they also invite the community to meet Santa Claus under the gazebo in December for a community-wide Christmas celebration. 

Approximately 40-50 American flags are installed four times a year (around patriotic holidays) by KCB and various groups of volunteers in the community, such as the Collinsville Fire Department and Collinsville Athletics. They organize City-wide Cleanup Day every year in April called “Don’t Mess With Texas Trash-Off” with TxDOT, in which Graham claimed they had the most help from volunteers than ever before this year. 

KCB cleans up trash four times a year on two miles of Highway 377 through the “Adopt-A-Highway” program, which makes a big impact on keeping the town clean. Every December, the group features four or five local homes or businesses with their “Holiday Tour of Homes.” They also choose eight special properties in Collinsville to award with “Yard of the Month” and a $25 gift certificate to Spring Creek Nursery, graciously donated by Callie Johnson. 

Every year, Keep Collinsville Beautiful grants $2,500 in scholarships to graduating seniors in Collinsville. KCB participates in community projects every month and encourages anyone interested in being involved with helping to start by picking a project that interests them most. 

KCB strives to make an impact on their community while living and doing by their motto, “Together we can make a difference.” They are always welcoming new members. To learn more, email [email protected]