May 26, 2004
Garden allows kids to blossom
Enabling Garden features accessible planting stations
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A vision of inclusion, the new Enabling Garden portion of the Children's Garden is wheelchair accessible everything.
The garden features planting stations and flower beds designed for wheelchair users, adaptive gardening tools, firm pathways , a wide-doored gazebo and picnic table modified for wheelchair use. Each planting station has its own irrigation facility to eliminate the need to carry buckets of water to the flowers.
Situated in the Children's Garden behind the Traverse Area District Library, a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday officially opened the facility to the public.
Children from Eastern Elementary School, Glenn Loomis Elementary School, East Junior High and the Adult Work Center attended the opening and got first crack at the flowers. They dug up winter pansies and planted marigolds in the corner of the beds to keep the bugs away.
"The children can go anywhere they want," said Susan Kuschell, of the Friendly Garden Club and the Children's Garden and a motivating force behind the Enabling Garden.
"It's finally here, we've done it!" enthused Kuschell, who had heard about accessible gardens in other communities and spearheaded the two-year process locally.
Kuschell listed numerous individuals and community groups and businesses who helped make the garden a reality. In fact, she said the Enabling Garden was 100 percent funded by volunteers and donations, including a $25,000 grant from Rotary Charities and the Rotary Committee for People with Special Needs.
"There is no paid administration so all of the money goes into the garden," she said.
Marsha Smith, executive director or Rotary Charities, was on hand to help cut the ribbon Tuesday afternoon. She noted that the Enabling Garden project was tailor made for her organization.
"It was the perfect kind of program," Smith said. "We support programs for young people and also programs about the environment and also have a special needs committee."
Mike Carney, a special education assistant with the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, guided Austin Darga, 9, to a planting station. Darga, who is visually impaired, gently felt the flowers, dirt and tools before planting some marigolds.
"This will be nice for the kids," Carney said. "You can make stuff real accessible and they're doing a good thing here."
Two area women who work with handicapped children provided additional inspiration and technical advice for the accessible garden: Dayna Ryan, district coordinator for Very Special Arts and Rhonda Estes of Kids on the Block.
"We wanted to provide gardening space for children of different abilities," Ryan said. "It's really a fun project because it is so hard for these kids to get into gardening. If you just think of the physical stress to get these kids on the ground so they can work, this allows them to garden, too, without worrying about that."
The Enabling Garden also includes a gazebo plus a bevy of Children's Garden volunteers eager to help young people enjoy it. Ryan noted that the next step is to work with area special education teachers on incorporating the garden into their activities.
"The word is just getting out, we're at the stage where we want to talk to teachers and say, 'How can we use this,'" Ryan said. "The gardening season is in the summer when the kids are not in school, but there are summer camps. They can sign up for a planting station and take care of it."