Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004060231
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: SOUTH
SOURCE: CHERYL ANN KAUFMAN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thanks to the 18-year-old Scout, a 28- by 16-foot tangle of neglected foliage that once littered the entrance to the VA Medical Center's main building is now a tidy garden of healthy boxwoods, shrubs and tulips surrounding an infant dogwood tree that will someday bear pink blossoms.
Pat Clark, VA public affairs officer and Edwards' first cousin by marriage, admitted that the plot had been "in dire need of work" due to other commitments resulting from a major construction project and a decrease in staffing.
Edwards, in the meantime, also was in dire need of work - work for a community service project he needed to complete in order to become an Eagle Scout.
He approached Clark about such an assignment after hearing her talk about public support of the VA at family gatherings.
Clark, in turn, contacted VA Medical Center Director Clark C. Graninger, who in turn suggested revamping the untended garden.
"They said anything would have been an improvement. It was awful," said Edwards, remembering the first time he laid eyes on the plot last October.
"There was no design [to the shrubs]. Gravel was bleeding out onto the sidewalk and there were potted plants, dead and mangled, everywhere."
Undaunted, Edwards walked away from the organic eyesore with a design in his head. It took him one hour to draw a rough draft of the project, which the VA approved a month later. He said the final layout took 15 hours to complete.
Edwards' plan called for the plot's four boxwoods to stay in their original corners. He also decided to save and rearrange what he called its "pygmy bushes," to give the garden symmetry.
The VA supplied white rock, mulch, the dogwood, 400 tulip bulbs of various colors and the bricks that border the garden. Edwards had wanted to outline his creation in timbers, but decided to use the same type of brick used in the center's buildings for continuity.
The plan was put into action by Edwards and 12 fellow Scouts on a cold, rainy, muddy day in late January.
"It rained, I mean rained, and they never missed a beat," said Clark.
"We felt like real men," Edwards jokingly recalled.
He also recalled that, despite the weather, curious patients came out to watch the construction that day."
"They loved it," said Edwards.
"We are very pleased," agreed Clark. "It's so well-groomed."
Edwards, on the other hand, is pleased that he will finally become an Eagle Scout - after one 140-hour service project and 52 merit badges (only 21 badges are required to become an Eagle Scout.) He said he had so many badges "because when I went to Scout camp, I went overboard."
Edwards and two other Scouts who spent a lot of time on the VA project, Phillip Oleson and Edward Henning, plan to receive their Eagle Scout awards in a ceremony this month.
In the meantime, Edwards still finds time to visit his garden - to lovingly clear it of trash and to check its progress.
"At least once a week, I like to see how my tulips are doing," he laughed.
He hopes future Scouts will show the same concern and help maintain the project.
Clark said the VA hopes so, too.
by CNB