The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Scott is here! Come get your Easter lilies despite virus
While walking through Edgerton Park one day this past week, my heart soared when I came upon an outdoor display with a full array of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, pansies and Easter lilies.
The assortment was set up outside the Greenbrier Greenhouse alongside a series of equally heartening signs, starting with: “We have been approved to be open! We will be open for greenhouse sales on a reduced schedule and taking orders online.”
And more: “Thanks to all of you for your support during these trying times. Our intention is to still have available for spring our pansies, cool weather veggies and seeds. Come in and see our new selection of seeds and trop
icals and succulents.”
“We are doing regular cleaning,” another message stated. “We will get through this and I myself plan to use gardening to help keep my sanity!”
This was signed “Scott.” His full name is Scott Hickman, who for many years has run not just the greenhouse retail operation but also G.R.O.W.E.R.S. Inc., a horticultural education, employment and therapy program for adults with developmental and physical disabilities. (Those letters stand for Growing Real Opportunities With Education, Relationships and Stability.)
“The crew,” as Hickman affectionately calls them, has been a welcoming presence for those of us in the East Rock neighborhood who regularly stroll through or run through this park on the border of New Haven and Hamden. They are diligent workers; raking leaves, sweeping, etc.
This is the only sad news sign here: “We have asked the G.R.O.W.E.R.S. crew to stay home during this crisis and our staff will be limited.” But Hickman added, “Hopefully before too long we will have the greenhouse energized with the G.R.O.W.E.R.S. team once again!”
When I stopped in to see Hickman last Thursday afternoon, he was busy tending all of those plants and flowers while handling ongoing calls on his cellphone from customers asking for deliveries and from members of “the crew.” There are 33 of them on the roster and they all love Hickman. He loves them, too.
Hearing one of the rings, Hickman looked at the number, smiled and said “That’s one of the guys. (There are a few women on “the crew,” too.) He calls me three or four times a day. He always says, ‘I miss you. I miss the greenhouse.’”
“They’re anxious about what’s going on,” Hickman said. “One of them has been here since 1979. You can hear the distress in his voice. It’s definitely stressful for everybody.”
When I asked Hickman an obvious question, whether he misses “the crew,” too, he replied: “I do! Desperately I do. I hope this doesn’t go on too much longer.”
Hickman said it was a tough day when he had to sit down and call “the crew” members and tell them not to come in. He called each one of them individually.
As for funding, Hickman is OK for a while. The state Department of Developmental Services, which provides most of the money for employing “the crew,” has agreed to extend financial support through the end of April.
The state also has allowed the greenhouse to stay open and sell its products because those include food (vegetables). Yes, the state officials have wisely deemed what Hickman is doing as “essential.”
Hickman said he gets his flowers and plants from local farmers in Branford and North Branford. It’s good to hear that those farmers also have a way to try to maintain their livelihood.
His phone rang again; this time it was a customer. “I’ll drop them off on my way home,” Hickman told her. “I’ve got them in a box, all ready to go. Just make sure you bring the gardenias inside. It’s too cold.”
If you want to arrange a delivery or do a pick-up, you can call 203-605-2807 or send Hickman an email at shickman.growers@gmail.com. Over the coming week he plans to be open weekdays from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. and from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.
“I’ve seen a lot of new faces here,” Hickman said about the past few weeks. “It’s heartening to me. They say they didn’t realize this was here. They’re no longer working in an office so they have time to come here.”
As for the regulars, he said, “People have reached out. They’re buying a few pansies, just to keep us going.”
When I remarked it must feel good that despite the virus, he’s staying open and providing Easter goodies to the public just as in past years, he flashed that wonderful smile and said, “Honestly, I love coming here. You see things flowering and growing, it makes you feel good, lifts your spirits. In times like these, you need that.”