Chester Scouts build vegetable gardens for Mount Alverno residents

WARWICK - If all goes as planned by harvest time this fall, the residents of Mount Alverno Center Adult Home and Assisted Living Program will be enjoying fresh produce and even homemade sauce from tomatoes raised in their own vegetable gardens. What some of the residents may recall as World War II era “victory gardens” are the result of an Eagle project for Freddy Salamone, 16, a member of Boy Scout Troop 152 in Chester. Salamone, a sophomore at S.S. Seward High School in Florida is a candidate for the rank of Eagle. Only about two percent of all scouts attain this rank, the highest one awarded in scouting. All candidates for Eagle Scout are required to complete a community project. With help from his father, Assistant Scoutmaster Fred Salamone, along with Scoutmaster Jim Goodrich, Assistant Scoutmaster Phil Lang and Eagle Scout Brian Goodrich, Salamone is building raised bed gardens at the center that are more easily accessible for people who use walkers. “I was a volunteer at St. Anthony Community Hospital,” said Salamone. “Everyone was so nice to me that I wanted to do something nice in return.” During any given weekend, on what would normally be her day off, Mount Alverno Administrator Lisa Fedorka might be found working alongside Salamone and his crew. Fedorka said the cost of the materials would be offset by a donation from the St. Anthony Community Hospital Auxiliary (SACHA) as well as various fund-raising events such as a recent bake sale organized by her staff. A new gazebo, also planned for the garden area, will soon offer residents a pleasant spot to relax while watching the progress of the vegetable plantings.