As   many   of   you   may   know,   I   had   mentioned   a   couple   of   times   in   the   last   couple   of   years   that   it   would   be nice   to   have   people   adopt   areas   to   plant   flowers   in   town   (ones   not   already   being   taken   care   of)...especially the   existing   beds   that   had   fallen   into   some   disrepair   on   Railroad     Avenue.   I   had   asked   some   likely   folks   to help   with   some   of   the   beds.   For   instance,   I   think   we've   had   a   Master   Gardener's   class   at   the   Elementary School,   which   I   thought   would   be   one   obvious   and   wonderful   choice.      Nobody   was   really   interested,   except the   fire   department,   and   my   plate   has   been   completely   full   ever   since.   My   family's   store   has   added   some flowers   to   the   one   across   the   street   from   us   a   few   times   to   spruce   it   up,   but   it   really   needs   more   than   that now. Brianna   Barkley   got   inspired   a   few   months   ago   to   create   a   Garden   Club   with   the   idea   of   making   this   kind   of project   happen.      Even   though   both   she   and   I   have   experienced   more   than   our   share   of   health   problems and   still   don't   have   any   spare   time   at   all,   she   convinced   me   to   also   take   time   to   help   make   this   happen.   She really   took   up   the   baton   and   ran   with   it. At   that   time,   I   believe   the   Girl   Scouts   were   very   interested   in   helping for   a   summer   project...but   they   needed   to   know   quickly.   She   set   up   a   meeting   soon   after   with   the   mayor   so that we could all be on the same page...and a few of us met along with him to begin the project. We   were   working   on   adopting   spaces   when   we   found   out   three   had   already   been   adopted   by   Judy Lewallen   as   we   were   told   that   she   had   received   a   $500   donation   to   do   three.      I   think   only   one   has   been planted   and   then   un-planted.   I   believe   there   was   a   problem   with   the   mulch.      There's   grass   in   another   and the   third   still   has   weeds   and   overgrowth.      I   certainly   realize   we   all   have   too   much   on   our   plates.      But   that   is why those are still waiting.  Not out of any lack of follow up on the club's part. We   were   also   told   that   the   depot   and   Visitors   Center   were   already   covered.      I   believe   someone   -   maybe Judy   -   works   on   the   depot   flowers?   Barbara   Bowling   and   Lynda   Howe   are   doing   much   of   what   is   around the   Visitors   Center   since   their   shops   are   now   there.      So,   we   began   to   focus   on   what   other   areas   would   be doable for this year. I   officially   "adopted"   the   space   across   from Alderson's   Store.   But   I   needed   help   getting   the   dying   evergreen shrubs   out   of   it   because   I   have   two   hernias,   fell   and   hurt   my   back   and   more.      I   can't   lift,   bend,etc.   much.   I believe   the   town   was   going   to   help?     The   dead   evergreens   are   still   there.     The   flowers   I   bought   then   to   fill   in have   pretty   much   died   now   from   waiting   to   be   planted.   I   would   have   to   buy   more,   and   they   aren't   cheap.      I also   don't   want   to   do   this   until   the   dead   plants   are   out.      At   this   point,   I   may   just   have   to   find   someone   to clear the dead and leave the day-lilies there, since they are looking beautiful. The   fire   department   has   adopted   a   space,   and   I   believe   they   asked   if   the   town   would   clear   it.   Last   I   looked, it was still full. Jennifer   Gilkerson   wanted   to   plant   sunflowers   by   the   depot   and   was   going   to   pay   someone   to   plant   since she   was   going   into   strawberry   season.      But   we   needed   to   know   what   space   we   could   use   and   help prepping it. Melinda   Russell   donated   seeds,   and   Brianna   and   I   bought   seeds   for   pollinators.   But   we   needed   help clearing and prepping a spot near the lion.  It's about too late to plant seeds at this point. Thank   goodness   Christine   already   had   her   spots   and   has   continued   to   make   them   beautiful!      And   thank goodness   Judy   Lewallen   and   Ross   Copenhaver   still   keep   up   the   hanging   baskets   in   town,   which   are beautiful! Brianna   and   I   have   planted   in   front   of   our   buildings,   because   we   at   least   could   do   that.      And   I   believe Brianna   is   going   to   plant   a   space   across   the   street.      We   talked   just   the   other   day   about   trying   to   plant   the seeds   at   the   lion...and   putting   some   milkweed   seeds   by   the   river   for   the   Monarch   butterflies.   But   it   really would have to have been this week or next.  It's quite late now for planting seeds. We   missed   the   Strawberry   Festival,   but   are   rapidly   headed   to   the   4th   of   July.      It   would   be   nice   to   at   least have   the   existing   spaces   cleaned   up/neatened   up/planted   by   then.     And   it   would   have   to   be   already   grown plants/flowers at this point to look good. Since   many   haven't   known   what   we   were   doing,   I   thought   it   would   be   good   to   update   as   many   as   I   could.     It's   like   many   other   things   in   town   -   for   example,   when   it   took   longer   to   get   the   depot   fully   renovated.   People in   town   often   get   the   idea   nobody   is   doing   anything,   when   in   reality....there's   been   a   lot   of   effort   that's   been going on behind the scenes.  Thanks so much! Sarah Alderson