Aug 19

Written by: ngreditor
8/19/2008 8:23 PM 

The Ladies of the Garden Club report

Patty Carpenter

It has been a difficult experience for us this summer of 2008.

First we had multiple rains which we welcomed, with the exception that it allowed the weeds to quickly grow in considerable amounts. Then the ground dried and the old Nebraska clay was so difficult to dig into we could not pull or dig out the weeds. Our weed killer did not work well either. Our lawn sprinkler disappeared so we could not moisten them well to pull the weeds out.

There is something about weeds and sin – they just come – you don’t have to do anything to nourish them, they are just suddenly there. Unlike flowers, and Christ likeness-now that takes work and time and patience to develop. Boy, those weeds are so selfish, taking away from the good things – just like sin.

We had vandalism at the pool which was truly disturbing. Our large pots on top of the entry pillars were knocked off, breaking the pots, and a potted plant was thrown into the baby pool, potting soil and all. They threw some fancy bricks into the pool, scraping paint off the bottom of the baby pool, and garbage was thrown in also. They threw numerous items into the main pool, causing aggravation and misery over the very idea of it. Our fancy decorated chairs were thrown over the north bank into the tall grasses and it took a goodly amount of time to find them and repair them. The criminals were never apprehended or punished. We could have used their help pulling weeds.

Some good and kind things happened though. Doug Pospisil began to mow the area and others helped kill weeds, repair and paint equipment. For that we are grateful and we thank you for your kindness.

All in all, the pool area looks great, and with a little more loving care and hard work, by next summer we should have things under better control.

The children love the loungers, lawn chairs and umbrella’s. At rest periods there was never an empty chair or lounger so no child or adult had to sit on the hard hot cement.

The pool area is becoming more attractive now, and we are working towards planting all perennial flowers, native to NE so they do not need a lot of care. We currently picked a basket of hollyhock seeds to plant for next spring. They grow well and also leave us with that nostalgic feeling. We hope to purchase a weed eater for next year. If anyone has any money to donate to our project, we would kiss your feet.

Our funds are low making it difficult to purchase items needed. We need some river rock to replace the mulch which turned to mush. We need some storage bins and/or a small unit to hold our gardening equipment, etc.

Donations can be made to Community Pride account at the Bank of Newman Grove. Your concern for the upkeep and beauty of the pool is so very much appreciated. Not many small towns have a pool of our caliber and we wish to make it an enjoyable part of our town with respect also to those early pioneers who built it.

We apologize for not reporting sooner, but that weed pulling took most of our extra time.

Thank you – and until next Spring – the 3 Ladies of the Garden Club thank all those who donated flowers, gliders, cement chunks etc. for our project in an effort to beautify and give our fantastic swimming pool area a face lift. It is a bit resort looking now, so please drive by and enjoy the scenery.