By Felix Hoover
For YourNewsColumbus
Posted 10-21-09
The community that turned a vacant lot on the West Side into an award-winning garden held a Harvest Celebration on Saturday in honor of their accomplishments.
Neighbors of all ages took part in the celebration, much as they had with the clearing of land, planting seeds and harvesting crops on the half-acre Highland Community Garden at the northwest corner of Flora and Highland avenues.
Last month, the Community Garden of the Year honors from the Franklin Park Conservatory's Growing to Green program.
"This successful project resulted in a unique collaboration among the Hilltop residents, the faith-based community, local nonprofit groups and youth programs, inspiring so many people and proving there is hope even in these difficult times," program judges said.
One of the young gardeners, Sedrick Dessin, 10, received the Paul B. Redman Leadership for his hard work and enthusiasm with the project.
The 3,500-pound yield from the garden was hardly a one-person operation.
Hailey Hawkins, 6, and her sister Mikayla, 8, lived close enough to the site to take part in every aspect of its development.
"I helped clean up the garden," Mikayla said.
Hailey said, "I'm the one that planted all the stuff."
Carrots were her favorite.
Working with and learning about corn, pumpkins, squash and different types of melons were some of the things that impressed Dymond Davis, 9, Curtis Davis, 10, and Samone Dessin, 12. They also made signs to mark various rows in the gardern during art classes at the Prime Time After School Program housed at the J. Ashburn Jr. Youth Center.
Somebody's going to regret not attending the Saturday celebration once his brother, nine-year-old Samuel Hensinger, tells him about the free cookies and other refreshments he missed out on.
Their mother, Susan, said her family ws one of the first to take part in the project, but growing crops was the only good outcome because "the boys had the satisfaction of doing it themselves."
The shucking of corn and thumping of pumpkins added autumnal flavor to the Harvest Celebration across from the award-winning Highland Garden on Saturday.
Music by the Battle Plan gave the event a festive feel.
Dan Downing, one of the driving forces behind the garden, was shoveling up debris at the parking lot as the first guests arrived Saturday.
"This is a wonderful blessing for the community," he said. "The garden is a catalyst for even this event today."