HISTORY

Quality Forward began in l974 as Quality 76 to celebrate the nation's Bicentennial in l976. A group of Asheville residents visited Switzerland and were inspired to come back home and beautify their hometown, thinking that our mountain environment, architecture and people are as beautiful as any European village. It was started with a $2,000 grant from Wachovia Bank under the umbrella of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

For the Bicentennial there were many celebrations and projects. Cleanups and beautification projects abounded. At the time there were cars buried in the Swannanoa River with only their roofs showing. Volunteers in wetsuits dived in, tow trucks were deployed and tons of debris were removed from both the Swannanoa and the French Broad Rivers.

Every group in town was invited to be a part of the celebration by planting a beauty spot the libraries, schools and downtown areas were all beautified with flowerbeds. The plaza in front of the Thomas Wolfe House, parking lots and several public areas were landscaped.

There was an International Taste Fair to bring all the ethnic groups together to celebrate our diversity and our community together.

Once the Bicentennial was over in l977, the volunteers just couldn t let a good thing go away and they kept the program going as Quality Forward with a small staff and very little budget. The office was housed at Asheville Savings Bank (then Asheville Federal) on Church Street and later moved across the street to l2 l/2 and stayed on Church Street until l997 when it moved to 29 Page Avenue.

QF's goals are to enhance the environment and quality of life for citizens in Asheville and Buncombe County through awareness building, community activities and partnership; promote anti-litter, waste reduction and planting efforts through grassroots activities, school programs, public awareness and public policy; and to educate our fellow citizens about environmental issues, value of urban trees and other quality of life issues.

In l987 Quality Forward became affiliated with the national Keep America Beautiful organization in order to benefit from the expertise of other similar organizations across the country. The Clean Community System was adopted from KAB, which gave a work program for reducing litter and waste in the community as well as encouraging beautification efforts. Educational opportunities and marketing expertise were available to the staff and volunteers.

From the beginning the emphasis has been on project-oriented work instead of issue-oriented programming for instance, instead of lobbying for air quality improvement legislation, QF planted hundreds of trees to have an immediate impact.

Small, incremental, neighborhood-based projects over the years have built into an incredible list of beautification and cleanup projects.

Every year the French Broad River Cleanup (part of the North Carolina wide Big Sweep) is held. We always hope there will be no trash the coming September, but find that there are tons of trash. Our emphasis on teaching people not to litter in the first place in order that we don't have to pick it up is one of the most frustrating parts of our program. But if we didn't have constant cleanups there would be tons of waste on our highways, rivers and in neighborhoods.

For the Bicentennial lots of groups planted the flower beds, but then they thought the City would take over the maintenance and there was very little staff of money to do it, so it was decided that QF would go about planting shade trees instead, thinking they would have more environmental impact and be a little less maintenance. Some of the first trees were in a parking lot (now deck) on Rankin, around the Wachovia Bank Building and on Patton Ave. Then every year more trees were planted at new sites.

For two seasons concentration was on City-County Plaza and Pritchard Park. As the downtown was filled with trees neighborhoods started to invite QF to plant street trees, like Montford and Kimberly Avenues to replace old trees being removed.

The Griffing Blvd. Rose Garden in North Asheville was about to be abandoned by Asheville around l980 and the neighbors adopted it and brought it back to its former glory with hundreds of roses, all cared for by the neighbors who collected donations for more plants and some of the maintenance.

As the program continued in the 80s there was expansion into school grounds all around the County, communities like Buckeye Cove received Seed Money to help with plantings, and connection was made with the Department of Transportation Landscape Division. Hundreds of trees were planted. The Treasured Tree program was started to honor the big, historic and/or otherwise significant trees on streets, in yards and parks.

Entrances and gateways were designed and planted with the donations of groups like the Mountain Laurel Garden Club. The members adopted the I-240 Expressway from where it splits off I-40 in East Asheville all the way to the Beaucatcher Cut. Hundreds of hawthorn and oak trees, day lilies, forsythia and wild flower beds have been planted. The Beattie Foundation has graciously supported our work to improve the entrances into communities for several years.

For about l0 years Treasured Trees have been designated on streets, parks and private property to honor and call awareness to all the varieities and conditions of our significant trees in Asheville and Buncombe County. Each year 25 more trees and/or preserves are added to the list and the total is reaching 250.

For 23 years Asheville has been designated a Tree City USA, applied for by QF. For 7 of these years there was a Quality Growth Award for significant projects implemented to address tree issues. Arbor Day is celebrated each year and one dollar worth of trees has to be planted for each citizen of Asheville, which we have easily qualified for every year. A Tree Commission was established to protect and advocate for trees, tree seminars and other educational opportunities are held.

The main fundraiser for QF for several years has been an annual Father's Day Garden Tour that moves to a different part of the community every year. It has been held in Kenilworth at John Cram's lovely garden, on Town Mountain, Chunn's Cove, Fairview, Beaverdam, Lakewood Park and other neighborhoods. Besides being a fundraiser it is educational for participants who want to learn about gardening.

Since l974 the Board of Directors of 24 people has represented a wide range of community interests, neighborhoods, populations and special projects. It is meant to be a grassroots, hands on group of project-oriented civic leaders. Besides Board members QF works closely with community clubs, City and County government agencies, the Department of Transportation and other State Agencies, businesses and other civic groups. There is a wide range of projects to reach out to everyone in Buncombe County who cares to be involved in improving their own environment.