The Daily News Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA Robinson garden helping to feed the hungry
When the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry distributed fresh tomatoes, beans, squash, and beets to patrons last summer, some of it was grown on the Jim ?Bud? Robinson Garden; the use of the plot was donated to the Rhinelander Area Community Garden in his memory in 2006. Robinson passed away in August, 2004, and his garden lay dormant until it was offered as a site to the community garden in the spring of 2006. Because it had been tilled and fertilized for years and came complete with a deer fence, community garden members were quick to plant it with produce that went to the food pantry. To say that Robinson was an avid gardener is an understatement. He enjoyed all aspects of gardening - planning, tilling, planting, and even weeding. When the fruits of his labor were harvested, he was eager to share them with family and friends. When Robinson was very young, his father died in a tragic accident, and his mother was left to raise ten children. He never forgot how members of the community were very good to them. Because of this, he learned early in life how important it is to help those in need, and he lived his life trying to help others. For many years, Robinson helped his neighbor Gladys Lassig Butterfield with all of her garden tasks. Having known her since his childhood, over the years they developed an even closer bond, sharing seeds, stories, smiles, and countless cups of coffee while discussing gardening strategies. Butterfield, now 96 years young, said, ?Bud was the son I never had. He did everything for me. Besides helping me with the garden, he plowed my snow, put up the deer fence, planted rye in the fall, and provided me with venison. He would really appreciate that his garden is being used to feed members of our community.? The Rhinelander Area Community Garden has another site behind Phoenix Villa that was planted this past summer. Because that site was once the McCord School playground, it has needed more preparation and attention than the Robinson garden. Musson Brothers has graciously offered to donate topsoil and the Oneida County landfill will be supplying compost to help improve soil conditions for this next season. Cathy Cleland and Laura Felda Marquardt, community garden organizers, hope that next summer there will be more community members willing to work. ?It was difficult to keep two gardens growing and harvested during our first year. Several retirees and a small group of Master Gardeners spent many enjoyable moments in those gardens, but we need more volunteers to come forward in order to work both gardens.? If you would like to share your expertise and gardening skills or learn some new tricks, attend the community garden meeting on Tues., Feb.6 at 4:30 p.m. in the UWEX meeting room in the basement of the Rhinelander/Oneida County Airport. We hope to choose the varieties of vegetables we plan to grow in 2007 and see if we can surpass the 7,000 plus pounds we harvested in 2006. For further information or to volunteer, call Tom Jerow at 369-6875. http://rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2007/01/27/community/comm69.txt ? 2006 The Daily News
