The Fred Brooks Garden Club has been awarded a $1000 grant from the National Garden Clubs, Inc. as part of the PLANT AMERICA Community Projects Grants Program. Fred Brooks submitted the proposal for the grant as a joint venture with the City Of Buckhannon to make improvements to the Fred Brooks Park located on Marion Street.

The club expects to complete the project by February 28 of 2020. The grant will cover the direct expenses of purchasing 3 trees, various plants, mulch, 2 picnic tables, a grill, 2 park benches, 2 trash receptacles, 2 park signs, and rhododendron and azalea bushes.

The City of Buckhannon will be providing labor for planting of the trees, plants and bushes, building of the benches and trash receptacles, and the labor and supplies to repair the water pump at the park, running electricity to the shelter, and miscellaneous repairs to the shelter.

On April 24th, members of the Garden Club met with City of Buckhannon employees Brad Hawkins and Rob Barbor to discuss the timeline and finalize the plans for accomplishing this project.

Rob Barbor and Raymond Pennington planted the azalea and rhododendron bushes that day, while club members worked on sprucing up the round flower bed in the park. It is hoped that with the completion of the Plant America project upgrades to the park that it will become a more inviting place for the community to utilize.