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Garden dedication honors green thumb in Liberty
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Bessie Anderson, left, is congratulated by Jodi Stoyak, Liberty Township trustee, during a dedication ceremony Friday at Anderson’s garden on Logan Way in Liberty. Anderson, a master gardener in Trumbull County, has created several gardens in the township over the past decade.
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Several people showed up to congratulate Anderson, now of Youngstown, at the garden named in her honor.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
liberty
The gardener who seeded Liberty in Bloom by her personal planting project was honored Friday at a ceremony dedicating a flower bed on Logan Way as “Bessie’s Garden.”
“I’m very touched,” Bessie Anderson said about the dedication. “It’s not something I expected.”
Anderson began the grass-roots effort in the township more than a decade ago. She said she wanted to spruce up an area around apartments in the Logan Way area that she and her family owned. Jodi Stoyak, now a township trustee, noticed the flowers as did June Smallwood, township parks and special-projects coordinator.
The trio started Liberty in Bloom in 2001. The seed of an idea that Anderson planted grew from a plot of flowers to annual and perennial plantings in seven areas of the township. Stoyak, who became a trustee in 2004, said Anderson inspired her.
Anderson and her husband, Godfrey, a local businessman, lived in Youngstown then spent 35 years in the township. They’ve now downsized to an apartment in Youngstown. Anderson’s love of flowers and plants has not diminished. She recalled that when she first started planting in the township, she grew her own flowers in her greenhouse. “My mother gardened but I wasn’t interested,” she said. “When we had a home, I wanted to do it on my own.” She’s happy that her sons and a grandson have become interested in gardening.
The gardener said she couldn’t pick just one favorite flower. “I love all of them.”
Anderson said she learned from hands-on experience and by attending garden-design classes in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. “I loved it,” she said. She has donated her garden designs to Fellows Riverside Gardens at Millcreek MetroParks.
Anderson, Smallwood and Stoyak worked on a landscaping project at the township schools. Donations of trees and mulch set the tone for the group.
The threesome eventually was joined by a crew of 30-some volunteers who prune, weed and plant the beds. Anderson, a master gardener in Trumbull County, designed the planting arrangements of perennials and annuals. She said health issues have limited her participation, but she remains a supporter of the project in spirit.
Planting sites are locations of “Welcome to Liberty” signs. These are the triangle area off Interstate 80 and Belmont Avenue, Route 304 from Hubbard and Weathersfield, on Route 304 from Girard, Fifth Avenue from Youngstown, Belmont Avenue from Vienna, Warner Road and Logan Way.
Stoyak emphasized Liberty in Bloom takes its cue from nature, which renews and recycles itself. The project is funded by an ongoing collection of aluminum cans at the township building, 1315 Church Hill-Hubbard road.
Other contributors to Liberty in Bloom have been Liberty Township Historical Society, Liberty Business Association, Walmart, Girard-Liberty Rotary and Trumbull 100.
“This project shows that the community cares and wants to have something pleasing to the eye for residents and visitors,” Stoyak said.
To volunteer with Liberty in Bloom, contact Stoyak at 330-759-1315 or by e-mail to stoyak@libertytwp.com.