A Green Team Champ: Sweeping the Ice to Sweeping the Streets

Published on August 26, 2025

For Kati Williams, volunteering with the Huntsville Green Team’s Adopt-a-Spot program was a natural fit. After all, sweeping is second nature to her.

Kati is a member of the Rocket City Curling Club and earlier this year, she suggested to the club’s board the idea of volunteering for the Huntsville Green Team Adopt-a-Spot program. Her idea was met with enthusiastic support from club members eager to make an impact just steps away from the Ice Sports Center.

“A lot of what I do for fun is already volunteer work,” Kati said. “The curling club is a volunteer-run nonprofit, so we’re used to pitching in. In curling, we do a lot of sweeping, so it was easy for our members to pivot from sweeping the ice to sweeping the street.”

Calling the shots like a skip

In June 2025, Kati and the Rocket City Curling Club adopted the stretch of Airport Road to Pump Street to Memorial Parkway. Their goal: to help keep the John Hunt Park and Ice Sports Complex area clean and welcoming. Since then, nearly two dozen members have joined in clean-up events, each putting their own spin on the effort.

“We keep it interesting by giving out small awards for the ‘Most Interesting Trash’ found at each pick-up,” Kati said. “It makes the work fun and helps us enjoy time together outside the rink. Plus, the warm weather is a nice contrast to the ice we usually see each other on.”

Kati’s commitment to the Green Team is just one way she gives back to the city she’s called home for more than seven years. Beyond curling, she also volunteers for a local cat foster network.

“I love Huntsville, and I love to give back to the community here,” Kati said.

The perfect draw

The Rocket City Curling Club may be Alabama’s first curling club, but for Kati, volunteering with people who share the same passion is all about building connections, with a lot of team spirit.

“Find your group of people and suggest volunteerism as a social outing,” she said. “That’s how I’ve done it. We have more fun when we’re volunteering together. In the meantime, I’ll keep sweeping for the perfect draw.”