Master gardeners annual cleanup at Whitehall’s Silver Tower Park

From left: Glenna Waltee, Mary Ann Carey, Marilyn Craft, Barb Lien, Maureen Dawson, Kathy Hatch Not pictured: Janet Chapman

Members of Montana Master Gardeners and the Whitehall Garden Club grabbed their gloves, rakes, clippers, shovels, black bags and enthusiasm to work on the Whitehall Silver Tower Park. The annual clean-up event includes pulling weeds, trimming shrubs and trees, removing debris, and tidying up the plant beds. Kaleena Miller, MSU Extension Madison-Jefferson County Extension agent said, “When I started my position as the Extension agent, I was immediately welcomed by the Whitehall Garden Club. During my first week, I attended one of their monthly meetings and began exploring collaborative opportunities as well as bringing educational programming to their members. The Silver Tower Park is an excellent example of the Whitehall Garden Club’s dedication to the beautification of public spaces in the community.”

The Silver Tower Park includes a butterfly garden and a native plant garden which the Whitehall Garden Club was instrumental in establishing. They also played an important role in installing the park’s Blue Star Memorial Marker along with a Gold Star Memorial By-Way Marker, which is the first to be installed in Montana. The Blue Star Markers were originally begun to honor World War II veterans, but now honor all who have served, are currently serving or will serve in any way in the Armed Forces of the United States. The Gold Star Memorial ByWay Markers are a tribute to families who have lost a member defending the United States of America. The park also features a veteran’s memorial wall which was designed and built by the local veteran’s group and is backed by the flags of the Armed Forces.

Several Whitehall Garden Club members have participated in the Level One Master Gardener course. After the course concluded, they jumped at the chance to participate in volunteer opportunities. A few of these included co-presenting at a 4-H Gardening Workshop and putting their newly acquired pruning skills to work while thinning boulevard trees in the community. Master Gardeners and Club members can often be found tending to some aspect of Silver Tower Park, engaging community members in their work, and when the season arrives, they can be found handing out apples and pears from the park fruit trees.