Page 44 - Free State Winter 2022 - Website Version

VOLUNTEERING

Timonium Fairgrounds

Volunteer Service Day

n English proverb dating back to the 1300’s says, “Many Hands Make Light

Work” and this sure was right on August 18 when volunteers representing
Athirteen different MNLGA member companies came together to finish

landscaping both the York and Timonium Road entrances before the Maryland State
Fair opened on August 25.

I say “finish” because as the industry knows, the work
started long before the plants arrived. The kudos belong
to everyone who participated, but to those who went to
turn and prepare the beds ahead of time and wound up
digging through cement, clay, rock, glass, and iron with
picks, shovels, pry bars and a backhoe, you all deserve an
extra “very well done.”

Even though most of the volunteers work in all kinds of
weather, it was hot, and shade was in short supply in the
early hours and non-existent as late morning became
afternoon. But the volunteer crews remained focused
and undeterred throughout the day. The group was
well organized into teams with one group finishing site
prep, another placing plants, another digging holes and
planting, and someone else recycling pots. Additional
planting of shrubs along the York Road fence line, which
has a sidewalk running between it and the beds, was
also planted with shrubs. When one side was done, the
mulching began, and this process continued until all four
large triangle shaped beds were finished. As work on the
York Road entrance wrapped, most of the crew moved
down to Timonium Road while the water truck came in
to provide the newly finished landscapes a much-needed
drink.
The process repeated itself at the Timonium Road
entrance well into late afternoon and the landscaping
of both entrances was completed before the dinner bell
ALI Students Mike Guzzo and Ty Johnson from Manor View Farm learning
(continued on page 46) on the job

44 WINTER 2022 • Free State News