During their November meeting, 11 members of Great Bend Garden Club enjoyed the stories of Deon Lupton who presented a program on the work and the history of the Great Bend City Beautification Committee.
The Beautification Committee was started in 1998 with from five to seven members who were charged with finding better ways to promote the city. The membership has fluctuated over the years with some help from the Master Gardeners in the community. They sought to target and clean up unsightly trashy areas and places which might create health hazards without infringing on property rights of citizens and businesses. Their projects had to occur on city-owned property.
One of the first major projects was the Main Street Tree Scape project. It began with the planting of trees along Main and more recently the planting of flowers in 13 flower pots along the business district of Main Street. The summer watering of these flowers was originally undertaken by students in the Special Ed program of Great Bend High School and more recently by a local family who took on the project. The tree scape idea was then extended to the planting of the redbud trees in the islands along Broadway. This entailed not only cleaning out the islands and planting the trees but installing underground watering systems to the islands, purchasing lawn mowers, and securing help to tend them during the summer.
Over the years they have landscaped and added statuary décor all over town including the Henri Rondeau planter and the raised flower bed and statuary at the public library, the airport terminal, daffodils around the statue of the Unknown Solders in the courthouse square, the Post Office entrance, the Cancer Center, the sheriff’s office, and the entrance to Vets Park. They provide flags during Memorial Day observances. They also joined with the Garden Club in providing a memorial statue in the Cemetery Rose Garden in memory of Mary Kummer Maneth, a longtime member of both groups.
All of this has cost a lot of money, the islands along Broadway alone costing $133,000 over the years. Along with some money from the city, fundraisers have included a holiday tables open house for several years, garden tours in the spring, writing grants and donations or memorials from citizens. One year committee members even became Island Girls, wearing their leis and sitting around a small pool in one of the Broadway islands hoping for donations. Occasionally someone stopped with a bill in hand. The committee appreciates all offers of help and contributions.
The next meeting of Garden Club will be at 10 a.m. on Dec. 20, in the Sunflower Extension Office meeting room. Members, guests, and visitors are invited.
