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Belpre Rotary Club, seniors ready garden

BELPRE – Senior residents at Putnam Howe Village in Belpre now have the chance to get their hands a little dirty and enjoy fresh flowers and even a few ripe vegetables through a project of the Belpre Rotary Club.

Members of the Rotary Club gathered Saturday morning at the independent living facility on Belrock Avenue to put the finishing touches on a series of raised gardening platforms at the rear of the complex.

Dave Posey, Rotarian and project organizer, said the Belpre Rotary Club holds its annual fundraising golf tournament each May with the support of Oxbow Golf Course and a variety of corporate, group and individual sponsors. Through that event, “we raise money to spend here in the Belpre and Warren area for projects like this,” he said, referring to the garden project.

Other projects have included helping with the science lab and the greenhouse projects at Belpre High School. It was the greenhouse project which led to the idea for Saturday’s project, Posey said.

“We try to do a project like this once a year with the funds we raise,” he said.

After the high school greenhouse project was completed, Posey said he approached the facility’s manager, Lisa Cooper, asking about possible projects at Putnam Howe Village.

“This was kind of her idea, she had done at another facility she worked at in the past,” he said of the planter project.

Cooper is senior manager with National Church Residences which owns and operates Putnam Howe Village. When approached by Rotary, she had the idea for the planters, known generally as “square foot gardening.”

“A lot of our seniors use walkers or have mobility problems, so it puts it up to where they can be involved in the project,” Cooper said of the raised beds. “Our back yard, we don’t use it that often so I really wanted to see them get outside and interact a little bit.

“Getting outside and being involved in a project or in a community project helps everybody. It helps your spirit, emotionally, gets you involved in working with others. They love to grow vegetables and they love flowers,” she said.

Posey said each of the planters feature two potting soil-filled troughs raised off the ground a few feet to provide easier access without bending or stooping. The planters were constructed by Bob’s Greenhouse of Belpre for the project and Rotary members gathered Saturday to put the finishing touches on the project, providing and preparing soil and plants.

Some of the items planted were decorative flowers, others were herbs and a number of tomato plants and other vegetables were put in each one, Posey said.

As the Rotarians worked on the planters Saturday morning, several of the residents came out to help and said they planned to watch over and care for the plants.

Gerri Goodwin was one of the senior residents helping plant the new flowers and vegetables after Rotary members filled the beds with potting soil.

“I think it’s a good idea and it’s beautiful,” she said, adding she plans to remain involved in helping keep the garden well tended.

Another recent Rotary project featured the purchase of a pair of seats for very small children which have been installed on the playground swing sets at Howes Grove and Civitan parks. Jim Applebaum, a Rotary member, said his wife recently noticed there were no swing seats suitable for younger children like his 18-month-old grandchild, so the club purchased one set for each park which were installed by city workers.

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