Volunteers Crucial To LakewoodAlive’s Downtown Blossom Program

The 2014 Downtown Lakewood Blossom Program was a major success in large part because of volunteers who serve as the foundation of everything LakewoodAlive does.

Lead by Kathy Haber, 13 residents and friends helped water 40 flower baskets that remain a seasonal staple within LakewoodAlive’s Downtown Program. In March, participating merchants paid for the flowers that were ordered through Lakewood Garden Center. Once they arrived in early June the volunteers jumped into action, placing them along Detroit Avenue.

New this year: flower box stands. Until now, the boxes rested on the sidewalk near each merchant’s front door, limiting visibility and impact. The Downtown Lakewood Business Alliance merchant association (a program of LakewoodAlive) made the decision mid-way through the year to purchase flower box stands lifting the boxes off the ground, making the flowers even more appealing and visible. The visual impact was immediate.

The volunteers’ most critical role is serving as the watering crew. Each volunteer was assigned a one-to-two block area for the entire season and tasked with watering the flowers along those blocks, approximately two times per week. The Earth Boxes have a reservoir thereby limiting the need for daily watering. Of all the creative Blossom watering plans developed over the years, this proved the most simple and effective. Volunteers filled gallon milk and water jugs at home and carried them to the boxes. Not optimal but the process worked.

The Downtown Lakewood Business Alliance, participating merchants, and LakewoodAlive are grateful to Teresa Andreani, Susan Echols, Teresa Ferrera, Kathy Haber, Susan Krebs, Karen Lee, Jane Leschnik, Christina Gill McCallum, Kathleen Miller, Kathy Ott, John and Norine Prims, and Marilyn Rudnick, along with Lakewood Garden Center, and the City of Lakewood for their support. Plans are in the works for an even better 2015 program.

For more information, visit lakewoodalive.com or call 216-521-0655.

Ian Andrews

My name is Ian Andrews and I am the Executive Director at LakewoodAlive.

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Volume 10, Issue 22, Posted 5:40 PM, 10.28.2014