BUDDY’S GARDEN
New Aberdeen Revitalization Society names community garden after Glace Bay man
New Aberdeen Revitalization Society names community garden after Glace Bay man.
A new community garden project is being named Buddy’s Garden after a Glace Bay man.
The late Arthur Payne — known to everyone as Buddy — had a true love for gardening.
“I’m ecstatic, I’m so excited for that,” said his granddaughter Emily Angelo of Glace Bay.
“I think he would be really happy.”
Everything began when Steven MacNeil, vice-chair of the New Aberdeen Revitalization Society, said their group decided to work on a community garden project and he was tasked with starting it.
As a result MacNeil went to search for partners interested in community revitalization.
MacNeil met with officials at Victoria Haven Nursing Home with a proposal to create a community garden there.
The nursing home agreed to put a planter box inside for the residents and one outside accessible to the community with vegetables.
“This will help improve community spirits, providing residents with the calming nature of a garden, produce fresh food and give a community area to visit the residents outside,” MacNeil said.
Town House provided two large planter boxes that are on their property.
Members of the Future Ready Youth Group agreed to dig the boxes up to be moved to the nursing home.
“We would have probably started this week but then it snowed,” MacNeil said.
In the meantime Angelo heard about the project. Her grandfather recently died and left her a greenhouse he made himself.
“He loved to garden,” she said.
“I wanted to start some kind of garden in his honour.”
Angelo said her grandfather was a baker for Sally Anne Bakery and it wasn’t until he retired many years ago that he began gardening as a hobby in his back yard.
“He kept wanting to do it more and more. I taught him how to use the computer and he’d get things off that and he would read all sorts of books.”
Angelo said there were at
least 300 strawberries in his strawberry patch last year.
“He would grow everything and give it out to his friends.”
Then Angelo heard about the community garden being started at Victoria Haven.
“I heard how they were doing a public garden and wanted in.”
Angelo plans to help by starting the seeds for the garden in the greenhouse her grandfather built.
In the meantime McNeil said Rev. Marian Lucas-Jefferies of New Brunswick, interim minister of Collieries Parish, heard about the project and also jump aboard.
The Collieries Parish includes the amalgomated St. Mary’s Church in Glace Bay, St. Paul’s in Port Morien, St. Luke’s in Port Caledonia, Church of the Good Shepherd in Dominion and All Saints in New Waterford.
Lucas-Jefferies is also a firefighter in New Brunswick and one night she was invited to training night at the Glace Bay Fire Department where she to talking to MacNeil.
“I asked what I could do to help because I’ve been involved in community garden projects,” she said.
“The church has a long history of supporting community projects so it seemed like a good fit.”
Lucas-Jefferies said before she could even blink her eyes
the office administrator had a note in the community bulletin on the garden and sent out to parishioners.
“It’s been wonderful, people have started donating from all the parishes right away.”
MacNeil said they ask anyone else wishing to help by donating any garden material, soil or seeds to drop them off at St. Mary’s Church.
Any extras received will be donated to the Glace Bay Food Bank community garden.
MacNeil said it’s hoped the community will jump aboard in a bigger way.
“We are hoping people will also step forward to help care
for the garden, maybe if out for a walk stop by and do some weeding.”
Anyone wishing to help in any way can also contact MacNeil at 902-202-6463.