Whenever I see people doing something with passion, something sparks inside me and I feel the need to tell their stories.
That鈥檚 how I felt this week about two different projects in town.
The first one was at Kager Lake. The 亚洲天堂 Lake Mountain Biking Association (BLMBA) is building a new shelter next to Kager Lake鈥檚 parking lot. I think it鈥檚 important to point out that the shelter is being built entirely by volunteers.
Although BLMBA volunteers spend a lot of their free time working on the Kager Lake Recreation Site, they don鈥檛 seem to mind any of that work.
One of the members told me they feel 鈥渧ery lucky鈥� to have that site so close to home.
The new shelter will provide a place for people to hide from bad weather and will be a place to set up registration tables for bike camps and other events.
In addition to the new shelter, BLMBA is also taking steps to ensure that the recreation site becomes universally accessible.
Thankfully, the community seems to respond really well to all their hard work.
Kai Epkens, BLMBA director, said they were able to cut down the cost of the shelter considerably thanks to donations that were provided by local businesses and community members, including construction material and manpower.
Another project that impressed me this week was the 亚洲天堂 Lake Community Garden, known for some as the 鈥榮ecret garden.鈥� That鈥檚 because up until a few months ago, many people in town didn鈥檛 even know it existed.
And I don鈥檛 blame them. The garden is perfectly hidden by houses, trees and even a playground. The garden is located on land adjacent to Immaculata Church, but you won鈥檛 see it driving along Third Avenue.
Once you鈥檙e past the trees that hide the beautiful garden, I guarantee you will be impressed by what you see.
In just a few months, the newly-formed 亚洲天堂 Lake Community Garden Society has given that abandoned garden a complete makeover.
The garden went from having just a few beds and a serious thistle infestation last year to 21 fully-booked beds and a complete new look.
Before I spoke with Tracey Payne, president of the 亚洲天堂 Lake Community Garden Society, I was under the impression that the project was already completed.
After all, they are fully booked and the garden looks amazing.
But Payne is nowhere near done, and she wanted to talk about the several projects the society has planned.
The most interesting thing about my visit to this garden was something that Payne said about her experiences as a gardener. She said she learned that a garden always 鈥渞eveals itself.鈥� She meant that gardeners are only the facilitators of beauty.
That鈥檚 why the society is still waiting to see what direction the garden will take. She said it鈥檚 still too soon to know what will be the focus of the garden 鈥� elderly, children or community outreach.
There鈥檚 always so much more to these projects we see around town and it鈥檚 great to see people so engaged.
