GEORGETOWN − Alan Aulson greeted supporters of The Gardens at a great grand ribbon cutting ceremony last week. As neighbors and friends enjoyed donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate, Aulson pointed out the many folks present who helped with the garden cleanup.
“Wayne and Jaime spent a tremendous amount of time up here – hours and hours on the machines just pulling stuff up,” Aulson noted. “Jaime spent a lot of time up here with the goats, just clearing things [the tangled vines and overgrowth of the abandoned lots] as it was so thick you couldn’t get to it [the debris beneath.]
He singled out his “metal crew,” thanking those who came to the gardens with metal detectors to help find buried posts and other metal that would get tangled and caught up in the farm machines.
“Just to give you an idea, we pulled almost 30 truckloads of material out of here. Mello’s [Disposal] took it in as a donation – one of the many donations we got,” Aulson related. “They took in about six tons of materials down there.”
He also thanked the DPW for their work, as well as the Kiwanis, the Knights of Columbus, and the American Legion who were early donors to the project.
The project has “just started,” Aulson said, as he continued to point out many in the gathering who helped, including gardener Matthew Nichols who created a sign he and his family erected that morning to welcome folks to The Gardens.
“Where this goes, we don’t know,” Aulson shared. “Our job was to get it to this point,” ready for the spring planting by many.
The gardens had fallen into disrepair over the past decade-plus, leaving most of the area abandoned and overgrown, which further discouraged folks from using the area. Aulson started this summer rallying support for The Gardens’ restoration. Twenty years ago, this tiny patch of the 200-acre conservation area which was dedicated to community gardening, was alive with families of gardeners from Georgetown and neighboring communities. Over time, lots were abandoned and the area fell into disrepair and overgrowth which obscured abandoned ground covers, fence posts, stakes, earth coverings, buckets, and all kinds of debris. There ended up being a “meandering of fences all over the place,” with various sized lots. And, access to the walking trails beyond The Gardens became engulfed and blocked in overgrowth.
“This garden goes back a long time, and people would relate how their parents had gardens up here, there were sandboxes for the kids, this was quite the place,” Aulson related. “You would come up here during the day and ‘talk over the fence’ and see everybody.”
The Aulson family donated wheel barrels and pitch forks for the use of the gardeners. He spoke of other improvements which could be made if folks are interested, including improving parking and access, the acquisition of a lawn mower and storage shed to help maintain the garden paths, and “perhaps a shed or area where gardeners can share vegetables or put them for donation or sale.”
Amy Smith, representing the Conservation Commission, cut the ceremonial ribbon to the cheers of many. She was joined by Selectboard members Douglas Dawes, Mike Donahue, Robert Hoover, and Laura Repplier. Members of the Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis, and American Legion were present for the event, along with neighbors, and gardeners who joined Alan and Maureen and the Aulson families in celebration.
Aulson is a former selectman, and with his family, donated the resources from Aulson Roofing, Goats to Go, and Great Rock Farm to the restoration efforts. He also arranged with the sheriff for near-release workers to join in at the gardens to hand-prune and help delicately remove debris from the non-disturbed areas of the gardens (the Conservation Commission had limited earth movement activities to the front area of the gardens).
