Camden library garden to be dedicated Saturday

Follow the red brick walkway A walkway of engraved commemorative bricks is a focal point in the Camden-Jackson Township Public Library Garden. Components creating a peaceful environment are ornamental grasses native to Indiana, statuary, and various planting arrangements. The children's room of the library looks out into the garden. A formal dedication of the garden is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday during the Camden Fall Festival. Comet photos by Jennifer Archibald

The Camden-Jackson Township Public Library Garden will be formally dedicated during a special ceremony set for Saturday morning at 10:30 on the northeast corner of the library grounds. In the event of rain, the dedication will be held Sunday at 1 p.m.

"It is our hope that the library garden will provide an outdoor setting for library patrons to increase their enthusiasm for learning, expand their reading interests, and experience inner peace," said Judy Berkshire, a founder and co-developer of the garden. "We expect the garden to add to the beauty of our library grounds and to enhance the presence of our building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana."

A garden in the making

Beginning in 2002 the Camden Preservation Society in conjunction with the Carroll County Garden Club began making plans for a garden to be located on the grounds of the Camden-Jackson Township Public Library. Landscape designer Jill Clothier and Berkshire from the Camden Community Preservation Society were both members of the Carroll County Garden Club. The Garden Club appointed these women to create a committee to develop a landscape design, gather bids for the project and to begin fundraising.

After conducting two fundraisers, that of selling engraved commemorative bricks and selling bulbs for spring planting at the Carroll County Garden Fair, which grossed approximately $1,500. The Camden Community Preservation Society received $2,000 in donations. The two amounts combined totaled nearly $3,500. In the summer of 2005 the project was ready to move forward.

The first phase of the garden consisted of site preparation. This included extensive ditching and excavation work by locals

Curt George, Alan George, Dean George, Tom Mears, Jerry Snavely and Ralph Rohrabaugh, and construction of brick pathways. Since the fundraising for the project began two years ago the original landscaper had gone out of business. Estimates were secured from landscapers in nearby Tippecanoe County with Schumann Custom Building and Landscaping being chosen for the work.

The sale of the commemorative bricks has been well received in the community with sales continuing on a daily basis. Individuals have chosen to memorialize former businesses in Camden as well as to honor loved ones, both living and dead, school classes, and churches. With sales increasing, Berkshire, Barb McCain and Curt George selected the pavers for the engraver Bruce Lipp of Flora to complete. Schumann Landscapers prepared the surface and set the walkways in the spring of 2005.

The following August, the Camden-Jackson Township Public Library offered to provide $1500 for an application to be written by McCain for a matching funds grant from the Carroll County Community Foundation for the purpose of finishing the garden. The grant award was made and plans for the p l a n t i n g , statuary and f u r n i t u r e began.

A committee was established by the C a m d e n Community Preservation Society for p l a n t i n g . Co-chaired by Elizabeth M o r r i s o n and Billie H e d d e , assisted by C u r t G e o r g e , McCain and R e a n n a Morrison, the garden soil was prepared and plants were selected.

The new drainage system installed at the time of the excavation of the soil was a major determining factor in the finished garden. Most of the elaborate planning was pared down to meet the needs of the town, the library and the original plan. A highlight of the garden is the grasses native to Indiana. Grown near Kirklin by David Gallagher and Amy J. Jones, the ornamental grasses offer some of the greatest variety and diversity of any other groups of perennials.

" T h e s e grasses met our needs in various areas of the garden," said McCain. "To satisfy the request of a garden that would be s e l f s u ff i cient, the grasses fit right in. Also our main focus of the c h i l d r e n 's area was the study of I n d i a n a History. To finish off their curriculum these grasses again became important. It is our hope that the finished product will be pleasing to all and viewed as an eloquent part of our library and its grounds."