Dixon Valve Donates Funds to Support “Good Seeds” Garden

Dixon Valve employees who are parents or grandparents of Garnet School students attended a check-passing ceremony in which the Chestertown Garden Club received $7,862 to cover the cost of an irrigation system for the “Good Seeds” garden at the school. Shown are (from left) Beryl Kemp (GC),  Jackie Payne, Margie Smith, Kyla Mackie, Carolyne Grotsky (GC, holding check), Travis Johnson, Ada Joiner, Barb Macbeth (GC), Connie Schroth (GC) and Diane Klingehofer (GC).

Dixon Valve and Coupling made a donation to the Chestertown Garden Club to cover the costs of an irrigation system for the “Good Seeds” garden project at Henry Highland Garnet Elementary School.

At a check-passing ceremony Friday, Sept. 27, Dixon Valve employees who are parents or grandparents of Garnet students were on hand to see the presentation of a check for $7,862 to Garden Club members.

Carolyne Grotsky, president of the Garden Club, accepted the check. She thanked Dixon Valve CEO Dick Goodall for his continuing support of the Kent County Public Schools and the Good Seeds project, which she called “wonderful for the students, parents, and teachers” at Garnet. “It’s a project that will make a difference for many years to come,” she said. Echoing the Henry Highland Garnet quote from which the garden takes its name — “In every man’s mind the good seeds of liberty are planted” – Grotsky said that Goodall has “planted good seeds in the community.” Garnet, for whom the school is named, was a prominent abolitionist, born in Kent County, who escaped from slavery to become a major voice in the fight for freedom.

The garden is being planted along the entire front of the school building on Calvert Street, with benches, footpaths, trees, and an elaborate compass rose embedded in the walk leading to the school entrance. Plantings will include edible berries and herbs as well as a pollinator garden. The Garden Club has agreed to maintain the garden, which is being planted by Unity Landscape over the next month or so. Designed by South Fork landscape studios, the project was funded by local businesses, foundations, and individual donors. Grotsky said the irrigation system has been installed but is not yet hooked up.

The Chestertown Garden Club also maintains plantings in Fountain Park, for which it donated the iconic fountain in 1899. Many members are also active in the Downtown Chestertown Association’s Curb Appeal project, which maintains plantings along the main streets of the downtown business district. Grotsky said the club has 39 members at present and continues to grow.

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