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Praise and Thanks from the Great Plant 2018

The members of the Old Saybrook Garden Club have been planting and maintaining the 23 planters down the center median of Main Street in Old Saybrook for more than 20 years. It takes our members countless hours to plant, deadhead, weed, fertilize, and sometimes replace plants that decide they don’t like the very harsh sun, winds, salts, and other pollutants left in the soil.

Safety for the Old Saybrook Garden Club members has been my number-one priority during this past year. In January, I contacted Police Chief Michael Spera with the idea of having a flag flying out of the top of our safety cones to make our visits to the planters more visible. Although I found out that flags are a big no-no and would not be allowed, it did open a very informative conversation with Chief Spera, who is equally concerned about our members’ safety.

We had several safety education sessions at Police Headquarters between Chief Spera, Civic Concerns Chair Cathie Johnston, and our members to come up with a safety plan. Hence the idea for the “Great Plant 2018” was created to ensure member’s safety. On May 29 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. the Old Saybrook Police Department closed two lanes of traffic on either side of our median planters for two hours at a time, divided in three sections. Approximately 30 of our members and spouses had the ability to walk freely around our planters to weed, plant, and mulch the gardens. Chief Spera also coordinated with the Public Works Department to deliver the mulch to each garden.

I cannot give enough praise and thanks to all the officers and members involved. It was an amazing community effort with wonderful camaraderie all around.

Marsha Finkeldey, President

Old Saybrook Garden Club