First, a word about our lingo. For as long as I've worked here, it seems we've had at least two people with the same name, even though we're not a Fortune 500 company. Currently on the Hammock Inc. staff, we have Barbara M. [Mathieson] and Barbara L. [Logan], Megan G. [Goodchild] and Megan P. [Pacella], Patrick B. [Burns] and Patrick R. [Ragsdale], and honorable mentions Kerri [Davis] and Carrie [Wakeford]. So we throw those last initials around from time to time. [Contrary to popular belief, it's not necessary for you to be named after one of the rest of us to be the next member of the Hammock team.]

But today we're talking about Barbara M. We have always been proud of her ongoing environmental efforts -- animals and our earth have no greater friend than Barbara. Now comes the news that Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has appointed Barbara to a two-year term on the Metropolitan Beautification and Environment Commission. Barbara's councilman Bo Mitchell nominated her for the position, because of her concern about the illegal dumping of trash in the southwestern part of Davidson County.

The mayor even threw in some mad props for Barbara in his appointment notice:

"Nashville is indeed fortunate to have citizens like you who are willing to volunteer their unique talents and sacrifice their time for our community," said Dean.

We couldn't agree more. Way to go, Barbara M.!