As time goes on, buildings and structures of historic towns begin to need new life brought to them in the form of remodels or renovations. The town of Canute is an example of one of those communities.
After having applied for Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’ program, Canute has brought a fresh look to a few of its buildings.
Both Canute City Hall and local business Snowders Alignment & Tires were painted after Paula McRee, Canute’s city clerk, applied to ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’.
“We’re wanting to get our town looking good, and with the upcoming Centennial of Route 66 in 2026, we thought we’d get started,” McRee said. “Ricky [Snowder] supports the Canute community and the Canute Public School system, so I was pleased to be able to help one of our community supporters.”
According to Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’ encourages volunteers to seek out unsightly community structures and renovate them with the creative use of resources.”
HIS Paints provides the paint to ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’ and Public Service Company of Oklahoma provides a stipend for supplies.
Applicants must then find volunteers to clean the buildings and begin painting, an effort that McRee said inspired many residents to want to clean up the town.
“Doing this has actually sparked a lot of citizens into wanting to get active to achieve our goals of getting the town looking nice and spiffy,” she said.
Canute Preservation of Route 66, a group established by citizens wanting to get Canute polished and looking nice, took lead by power washing, scraping, and painting the buildings while local businesses helped by donating power washers, spray painters, and a man lift and basket.
Volunteers spent a total of two days cleaning up the buildings as well as painting them.
Though the buildings have now been successfully finished, the work doesn’t stop there as those that have participated in the program can now qualify to compete in the “Communities Primed for Change” online contest.
Upon submitting the before and after pictures, contestants will be eligible for a public vote that will take place later this month through Keep Oklahoma Beautiful.
The top three highest votes will then be shown to ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’s’ paint sponsor who will award a $1,000, $750, and $500 prize for the first, second, and third place respectively.
Participants are also invited to be recognized at the Environmental Excellence Celebration where the order of winners is announced.
“If Snowder’s or the Town of Canute receive the award, we will put that money back into the Canute Preservation of Route 66 Fund to help with other plans that we have to work on,” McRee said.
McRee said Canute’s efforts in cleaning up the town ahead of the Route 66 Centennial will continue as the town already has plans to apply again to ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’ to work on the more historic buildings in town should they not be painted by then.
“The [Canute Preservation of Route 66] group is looking forward to working with the town of Canute to move the historical town jail to the Canute Rt 66 park and help with the restoration of the Cotton Boll Hotel sign,” McRee said. “CPR66 has several smaller items they will be working on in the coming months.”
If you are interested in supporting or joining the non-profit group, you may attend the next meeting on Oct. 20, 2021, at the Canute Fire Department Event Center located at 310 E. Scheidel in Canute.
“Thanks to TLC Rentals, Circle H Painting, Jamey Cook, Clay Walters, and Dan Price for the generous use of their equipment or supplies,” McRee said. “Volunteers were Clay Walters, Wayne and Shawn Walters, Craig Mahl, Dennis McRee, Zakk Vaught, Steve and Lisa Gowdy, George Schones, Steve Hoelscher, [and myself]. Behind the scenes, Mary Beth Thomas helped [me] with the proposal.”
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is a statewide nonprofit with the mission to empower Oklahoma citizens to preserve, enhance the state’s natural beauty, and ensure a healthy sustainable environment.
For more information about Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, ‘Paint Oklahoma Beautiful’, and the sponsors of this program visit: www.keepoklahomabeautiful.com.