Photo courtesy of Pat Mitchell.
Pat Mitchell, also known as Auntie Litter, carries the Olympic torch through Vestavia Hills on June 30, 1996, as part of a 15,000-mile torch relay trek en route to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
In 1990, Pat Mitchell, a former elementary school teacher from Vestavia Hills, created a character named “Auntie Litter” as part of an anti-litter and pro-environment campaign.
Mitchell hoped to “do for the environment what Uncle Sam has done for patriotism.” Her first appearance came at Birmingham’s 1990 Earth Day, where she launched an “Auntie Litter Needs You” public education campaign.
She started speaking at schools, churches and businesses and speaking out in news articles, radio interviews, television appearances and public service announcements, promoting litter prevention and cleanup efforts and environmental stewardship. That effort spread not only across Alabama, but throughout the Southeast.
She even got national attention, being interviewed by CNN Headline News and featured in publications such as Family Circle, Recycling Today, Weekly Reader, Country America and Waste Age Digest, according to the Auntie Litter website.
In 1990 and 1991, she received the national Take Pride in America Award and was honored by President George H.W. Bush at the White House. She received a conservation award from the Daughters of the American Revolution and a Woman of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of America.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton named her a Point of Light, and she was selected as a Community Hero for the Birmingham metro area who got to carry the Olympic Torch as it passed through Birmingham and Vestavia Hills en route to Atlanta in 1996.
She joined Chris Hagewood, then a junior at Vestavia Hills High School, in carrying the torch through Vestavia Hills on June 30, 1996, with crowds cheering them on.
