Rome News-Tribune

Berry cleans up for service

- By Blake Doss Staff Writer BDoss@RN-T.com

Berry College freshmen, Rome city employees and other volunteers were sweating in the heat Saturday in an effort to make Rome a little more beautiful.

Some students helped paint different wildlife pictures on the pillars of the pavilion at the ECO Center at Ridge Ferry Park. Others cleaned up the garden at the center, the North Rome Community Garden and the RomeFloyd County Recycling Center on Watters Street.

Berry professor George Gallagher said the FirstYear Service Day is a great way for freshmen to get oriented and learn how to serve their community during their first week of classes.

Serving others is a part of the history at Berry, Gallagher said.

“It’s really good for them to get out, get dirty and build new relationsh­ips,” he concluded.

Berry student Alexis Johnson said she took part in the service day at the ECO Center to help the community that she lives in and learn more about agricultur­e.

Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful Director Mary Hardin Thornton said Berry’s workday and the community enhancemen­ts that come with it are just a couple of the “subtle” things that make Rome a little more fun. “It’s already brought a smile to everyone’s face,” she said. “It’s a happy thing.”

Jim and Lynda Kerscher said they have celebrated their anniversar­y by taking part in several different mural paintings over the years, including the one at the Rome-Floyd County Library.

They said they do it to help keep Rome beautiful and because they have known Thornton for a very long time.

On Saturday they were painting at the ECO Center. Today is their 51st wedding anniversar­y.

Berry freshman Ashley Merritt, from Wilmington, North Carolina, said the college is attractive to her because of its community volunteer programs.

 ?? Photos by Blake Doss, Rome News-Tribune ?? TOP: Hannah Norman and Haley Edmondson, freshmen at Berry College, paint frogs on the pillars at the ECO Center. ABOVE: Mallory Umberhandt, a Berry College freshman, ties a plant to a stake in the North Rome Community Garden. BELOW: Reeves Nelson...
Photos by Blake Doss, Rome News-Tribune TOP: Hannah Norman and Haley Edmondson, freshmen at Berry College, paint frogs on the pillars at the ECO Center. ABOVE: Mallory Umberhandt, a Berry College freshman, ties a plant to a stake in the North Rome Community Garden. BELOW: Reeves Nelson...
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