Building community, one flower at a time

To the editor: I moved to Warwick four years ago with my family, searching for a sense of community. The feeling of “hometown” is slowly evaporating from the American cultural scene and I wanted my children to experience it. A month after unpacking my boxes and settling in, I joined the Warwick Valley Gardeners, a community group dedicated to keeping Warwick beautiful, one flower at a time. Last month, the gardeners held their 13th annual Countryside Garden Tour and Plant Sale, our biggest fund-raising event. All proceeds from this event keep the eight gardens we maintain in Warwick, including the Railroad Green, flourishing. In my search for a sense of community, I found it through being involved in the planning of this event. The merchants couldn’t have been more giving, donating merchandise for our raffle, purchasing ads in our tour guide and when we thought that we might get rained on, Jean-Claude and Annette Sanchez even offered to lend us one of their tents from the Farmers Market to keep us dry. The outpouring of generosity was amazing. The Department of Public Works helped us by hanging our banners. Creative Landscaping rushed mulch over to the Railroad Green. Many of the shop owners decorated their windows with flowers, decorative planters and gardening tools and the local high school chapter of the F.F.A. sent a member over to help us with the plant sale. And of course, hundreds of people grabbed their raincoats and umbrellas and showed support by coming on our tour, purchasing our plants and taking a chance in our raffle. So thank you to everyone in Warwick. Being a member of the Warwick Valley Gardeners and working on the Garden Tour has shown me to how wonderful and giving a community can be. Warmly, Darlene Brozowski President, Warwick Valley Gardeners