Garden grows through work of volunteers
Kelly Mikita didn't want the site where Worsley's once stood to sit empty all summer, so she decided to do something about it.
On Saturday, Mikita of Butler Township led the planting of a community garden at 161 N. Main St., where the Worsley's building caught fire in March 2016 and was later demolished.
“It was a spot where something pretty significant in a negative way happened in the community, and I thought it would just be kind of sad to leave it just be grass or mud this year,” she said.
Mikita, who works with Butler Downtown, was given approval to plant the garden by the Worsley family, who owns the lot. Mikita said the garden is being done entirely through volunteer work.
Dirt, mulch and palettes were donated, and Mikita said Saturday morning that she expected between 100 and 150 volunteers for the event, which began at 8 a.m. and ran into the afternoon.
“It's just amazing,” Mikita said. “Just from word of mouth things have gotten so big.”
The garden will be available to all who partake in its creation or upkeep. It will feature pansies and forget-me-not flowers, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, brussel sprouts, and basil and tine herbs.
Volunteers laid down palettes which were painted by volunteers for palette beds to make weeding easier.For Mikita, planting a garden is a new experience.“I'm honestly not a gardener,” she said. “I just thought it was a good idea.”Carrie Vardi of Chicora also loved the idea, and was one of Saturday's volunteers.“I keep calling it a nostalgic revival because we need to get back to when people cared,” she said.Dean Selfridge of Butler also volunteered, and said the goal was to “beautify” the lot.“We're trying to build a strong relationship with people to help people care about their town,” he said.Butler Brew Works will have a spot in the garden to grow vegetables for restaurant specials, while other vegetables will be donated to area churches for dinners.
