City of Woodward Named Finalist for Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Government Excellence Award

The City of Woodward has been named a finalist for the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) Government Excellence Award, recognizing the City’s ongoing efforts to improve public spaces, engage volunteers, and promote environmental stewardship throughout the community.

Woodward is one of six Oklahoma communities selected as a finalist for the Government Excellence Award, which recognizes government programs and initiatives that demonstrate measurable environmental impact. The finalists will be recognized during Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s 36th Annual Environmental Excellence Celebration on Thursday, October 29, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

The City of Jenks and City of Kingfisher were selected as the 2026 Government Excellence Award recipients.

The recognition highlights Woodward’s year-round partnership with Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and a range of projects focused on environmental improvement and community participation. During the past year, the City completed a Paint Oklahoma Beautiful project to restore playground equipment at Homestead Park, hosted a Spring Trash-Off and Great American Clean-Up, organized an electronic waste recycling event, planted a downtown pollinator garden through a Keep Oklahoma Beautiful environmental grant, distributed free pollinator seed packets through a partnership with The Grand Unseen immersive art exhibit, and replanted native landscape planters within the downtown district.

The City’s Spring Clean-Up efforts demonstrated significant growth in community participation. Thirty-seven volunteers contributed approximately 148 volunteer hours, cleaning two miles of roadway and 30 acres of public land while collecting 64 bags of litter and approximately 180 pounds of trash. The City also collected 3,661 pounds of electronic waste for proper recycling and diversion from landfills.

Volunteer participation increased from 10 people the previous year to 37 volunteers this year, reflecting the growing involvement of Woodward residents in community cleanup and environmental efforts.

“Being recognized as a finalist alongside communities from across Oklahoma is an honor and reflects the work of our staff, volunteers, and community partners,” said Tourism Director, Megan Johnston. “These projects show what can happen when a community comes together to take care of the places we all share. We are proud of the measurable progress made this year and incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed their time, resources, and ideas.”

The City’s environmental efforts also included the addition of native plants and pollinator habitats in public spaces, improvements to local parks, and the continued maintenance of its Keep Oklahoma Beautiful affiliate status through training and collaboration.

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful works to empower Oklahomans to preserve and enhance the state’s natural beauty while promoting a healthy and sustainable environment. The annual Environmental Excellence Celebration brings together more than 500 environmental leaders, community organizers, business professionals, and public officials from across Oklahoma to recognize outstanding environmental work and support KOB’s statewide programs.

The Environmental Excellence Celebration will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

The City of Woodward’s finalist recognition reflects the community’s continued commitment to creating cleaner, more welcoming public spaces while encouraging residents to take an active role in caring for their community.