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HUGS - Humboldt Urban Garden Sanctuary A place of peace and reflection
HUGS
Humboldt Urban Garden Sanctuary: A place of peace and reflection
BY KARINA SINCLAIR
April 6, 2018 is a tragic date forever etched in Canadian history. Over four years later, Canadians from coast to coast remember the shocking news of a junior hockey team bus crash. The accident claimed the lives of 16 people and injured 13 others. The Humboldt Broncos had been on their way to a semifinals game, hoping to bring a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Championship back to the small farm town located about 230 kilometres north of Regina.
The tight knit community of Humboldt was devastated by the loss; nationwide, Canadians rallied to support the victims and their families.
One project designed to support the community and commemorate the lives lost is the Humboldt Urban Garden Sanctuary, also known as HUGS. The garden, which officially opened at the Humboldt District Health Complex on June 22, 2022, was a collaboration between Landscape Alberta, Landscape Saskatchewan, Communities in Bloom, Green Cities Foundation, and Scotts Canada.
Joel Beatson is the executive director of both provincial associations. He said the Humboldt tragedy was felt by everyone, so although the healing garden is in Saskatchewan, Landscape Alberta offered administrative help to support the smaller Saskatchewan membership.
The Landscape Alberta board met within a week of the fatal accident. Three of the eight board members had played junior hockey, and like the Humboldt team, had memories of travelling across western Canada by bus to play in tournaments. “It was three grown men almost in tears at the meeting,” Beatson recalled. “That’s when we decided to reach out to the city and say, ‘hey, we’d like to do something.’ And unbeknownst to us, our friends at Communities in Bloom had also reached out to the city at the same time.”
The organizations combined their efforts to create something meaningful for the community. “The industry shows its love for what they do by giving it to others,” Beatson said, adding that the groups overcame numerous challenges caused by the pandemic.
Logistical challenges Everything ground to a halt in the spring of 2020, just as the HUGS project was gaining momentum. Suddenly, no one knew if they’d be able to work at all that year, or how available volunteers might be during lockdowns.
Even assuming people could work outside safely, getting those people to Humboldt was another challenge. The town’s population is roughly 6,000 and there weren’t enough local landscapers to take on the whole project. It was at least an hour-and-a-half drive to bring helpers in from member companies in other communities. The result was to write off 2020, but Beatson added “as we got into 2021, we said we have to get going on this.” That’s where project manager and past-president of Landscape Saskatchewan Leslie Cornell came in to help marshall resources and volunteers. Even with Cornell’s experienced hand at the helm, the project faced another pandemic-induced issue plaguing the broader landscape trade: supply chain shortages.
Beatson estimates the landscaping community donated over $200,000 worth of services and materials. “Most sponsors gave materials at cost, but it’s a big, big project to make,” Beatson said. “Without the donations, we would be nowhere. The industry, as always, comes to the table.”
Volunteer support
by the tragedy. Our friends at Farm Credit Canada (FCC) have a staff mandate of volunteer time every year so they came from multiple offices for planting.
Beatson said a group from FCC came for two days and planted over 300 trees and shrubs.
That was a major accomplishment, but to complete grading and other foundational elements, the project needed professional landscapers. “Laying pavers, for example, you need somebody who knows what they’re doing,” Beatson said. “We had great equipment partners too. But even that was a struggle because there were supply chain issues with equipment.” Anyone who had equipment to lend was now committed to their paying customers who were “banging down the door to get it.”
A place for connection Despite the many challenges and delays, organizers and volunteers seemingly willed the HUGS dream into reality. “It definitely stemmed from a very caring starting point, of just seeing a community torn apart and really hurt by this,” Beatson said, explaining the group wanted to build a space not only for memoriam, but also something flexible enough that people could use it however they saw fit. By placing the healing garden on the hospital site, they knew it would become a space for caregivers, recovering patients, and for the community at large to find solace in nature.
The project has been deeply meaningful for everyone involved, Beatson said. “When we’ve had opportunities to deal with the families involved directly, the gratitude they show really drives home why you’re doing it because you’re building something that will last forever.”
Spring 2022 saw a push to plant more annuals and install a gazebo, benches, and landscape lighting. A commissioned art piece by local metal artist Murray Cook serves as a symbol of grace and transformation. The 14-foot sculpture features steel flowers and butterflies that cast coloured shadows that shift with the sun throughout the day.
Landscape designer Christyn Palazzo said her intent was to create connection with walking paths and meaningful sitting areas. The perimeter of the sunrise patio is planted with 13 shrubs and grasses to represent the survivors of the Bronco crash. Palazzo says the early morning view “reminds you that the sun will rise every day, and you will continue to move forward into your journey.” The sunset patio faces west, and features 16 plants to represent the lives taken in the tragedy. A pair of angel wing-shaped garden beds wrap around those sitting in the space.
Grand opening At the grand opening ceremony, local dignitaries, volunteers, and families connected with the Broncos celebrated the thoughtful addition to their community.
“The project helped bring green industry professionals and community members together to help green their city and create a space of relaxation and healing in Humboldt,” Leslie Cornell said.
Four years in the making, HUGS is ready to be enjoyed. The serene new gardens show what is possible when dedicated volunteers come together to support a great cause.
Beatson expressed his gratitude to the many organizations and individuals who contributed, including: members of Landscape Saskatchewan and Landscape Alberta, the Green Cities Foundation, Communities and Bloom, Scotts Canada, the Humboldt and District Health Complex, the city of Humboldt, Olds College horticulture program, and a host of agencies, designers, suppliers, and volunteers.
“All our members just love, you know,” Beatson said, reflecting on the generosity of the landscaping community. “They love what they do, and they love to share it with people.” Reprinted with permission by Landscape Trades.
Glue
The experience of most of us with glue is that it is a liquid, gel, or sticky substance that holds two or more things together. When the correct glue is applied properly things stay together. The finished product is then better, repaired, or an improved item. As a lifelong small business owner, as I was working on a home project, I thought about the proper application for glue in a business. What needs to be glued together? What is the appropriate glue? And, what kind of results could we expect?
BY TOM SHAY
Let me suggest several; glue for you sticking to your business; glue for your employees sticking to your business; and glue for your customers sticking to your business. Together these glues can make a big difference in your business.
As the owner and leader of your business – whether you are product or service oriented, it is you that is most important. The glues we suggest for you are books, discipline, and curiosity. No, they are not the types of glue you find in stores or online. Curiosity is the most important glue as it is what will guide you through everything we are suggesting.
Ever wonder what would happen if a planter display was moved to a different spot in your garden center? Do you think about starting to advertise on Facebook? Have you considered adding to the size of the territory your landscape business serves?
These are but three examples of curiosity. Perhaps you have thought about these and other potential changes to your business. Maybe you have decided you won’t try them. Frequently, the answer we hear is, “I know that won’t work in my business”. At that point you are fulfilling that adage of, “Whatever you decide, you are right”.
Our suggestion is your selecting a schedule for trying something new; one new idea each month; every six weeks; or one each quarter. Promise yourself you will give each idea your best effort and allow each idea a season to prove themselves.
As you evaluate each idea you try, consider giving them more than a “yes” or “no” decision for continuance. You may find a bit of “tweaking” on an idea could make it work in your business producing more customers, revenue, and profit.
If ever there was a time to be curious and try new things, it would be this year. Look at your personal life; since March 2020 what have you been forced to experience that was new to you? An online doctor visit? A business that refuses to accept cash? A mall that opened later and closed earlier than before? Ordering online more than usual?
We are now all getting use to the unusual. You have an opportunity to experiment and introduce your customers to new products, services and ways of doing business.
Making curiosity one of your glues, will cause you to see differently as well as causing others to see you differently. We have experienced a small business change when the owner is open to new ideas they have heard at a trade show or been given by a vendor’s sales rep.
The second glue we recommend is that of discipline. Frequently when you read online reviews of businesses and restaurants, you see a complaint of inconsistent service. Oddly enough, of all the challenges a business has to overcome – local competition, online competition, expenses and others – inconsistent service is the easiest to resolve and is simply an example of a lack of discipline.
Our experience from years in our business has been that a staff prefers discipline and an established set of ways to do things – from receiving merchandise to working the cash register and waiting on customers in a retail operation and in a service business, directions that are consistent from one supervisor to another . Not that employees want everything dictated to them, but employees, and customers, have a desire and need for consistency.
Consider the employee who is working an entry level job. While in today’s economy it likely pays more than minimum wage, at some point we frequently see that employee leaving for another job that pays fifty cents more per hour. Think about it; even if the person is working 40 hours a week, the change represents $20 a week.
While $20 may be a lot to some people, the cost to the business losing the employee is substantial. How much time and effort does it take to find the replacement employee? How long does it take to get the new employee up to speed?
But did the employee leave because of the work environment? Perhaps the best addition we ever made to our business was that of creating a school for our employees. In addition to being unique because we had a school, we were very unique because our employees taught the school.
By requiring employees to learn on an individual basis as well as teach their fellow employees, their skill sets increased and the level of comradery improved. Requiring an employee to teach made a big difference in what they had learned.
While many of us experience a challenge with self-discipline, it was this same concept that made our business stronger and better for customers. During our school, our employees wrote the rules for how the business should operate.
As an example, we had more than one occasion where we received an invoice from a vendor and could not find the packing list or delivery receipt that traditionally accompanied a shipment. We knew the inventory had been received because we could see the merchandise on the sales floor. Obviously, we were just sloppy with paperwork. Together our staff created and wrote a procedure for receiving and processing inventory. Because our staff created the solution they were more diligent in making sure their solution worked as they had written it.
The staff also wrote their own job descriptions which made a big difference in how quickly a new employee was acclimated into our business. And when an employee “wandered” from the job description, it was their coworkers who wrote the job description that nudged them back into compliance.
Discipline establishes a special culture within a business that benefits both the business and the customer. When a business has customers that come in and ask for an employee by name, you could take it as a cause for pride. However, the business wanting to excel would look at this and ask what they could do to have more of their employees being asked for by name.
The same is true for a service business. If the customer has done business with your company before, you could be hearing a customer asking you who the supervisor and crew members will be on the next job. That is a sure sign that the customer has connected with your employees and has expectations of another job being done with a repeat quality performance.
Our third recommendation for a glue for your business is primarily directed at you as the owner. Success begins with a leader; not a manager. Perhaps you have read the expression which describes the difference in the two. The essence is people are told to follow a manager but they want to follow a leader.
Take a look at the website glassdoor.com; while it is primarily a listing of large businesses, the purpose of the site is to share experiences of people working in these companies. Individuals looking for a job can visit the site as they consider applying for a job with these companies.
The “glues” of discipline and books come to mind. What do books have to do with it? We have an expression of, “the average small business owner does not read books; perhaps that is why they are average”.
There are big differences in the experience of reading a newspaper, listening to a radio, or watching television and the experience of reading a book. And as we mention books, we are talking business books and not novels.
Those differences/advantages of business books begins with their lack of negativity. In spending your time with those traditional media, what are you going to learn that will help you improve your business? But you are going to be reading or hearing someone complaining about parliament or some other elected official.
Another difference/advantage is business books force your mind to expand as you are exposed to new ideas. You will find many types of books. Some books speak to bigger businesses from which you can garner the concepts and apply them to your small business. Others speak to small operations with specific ideas for a store or service business. While a book may be written for a bike shop, the essence of the book can be “translated” and applied to your business as the bike shop has both product and service.
Let us share a link, https://profitsplus.org/book_referral. html where you can find over 200 business book titles in ten categories of business management topics. You may find these at your local library or if you decide to purchase a book, be sure you do so with a local shop or an independent bookstore with an online store.
Reading these books creates the glue that will enhance your skills. You will be creating an experience for both your employees and customers. Few employees have ever worked for a leader. Instead they have just been under the direction of a manager.
Customers have not had enough experiences of doing business with a business where there is an engaging owner. However, when they do, that owner is the very reason people want to shop in a locally owned business instead of a mass merchant. It is the process of finding, creating and being the glue that keeps the business, employees and customers together.
See Tom live at Green Industry Show & Conference in Red Deer, November 17-18, 2022. www.greenindustryshow.com
