Downtown is bloomin' again after today's 'Grow the Yo' community planting

YOUNGSTOWN

Anyone in downtown Youngstown Saturday morning likely noticed a transfusion of colors: hundreds of people in yellow T-shirts planting purple, white, pink and gold flowers to make the city greener.

“It feels good to come out and work to make it look nicer,” said Aquiria Bowers, a University Project Learning Center ninth-grader,

referring to citywide beautification efforts.

In fulfilling her community-service requirements with the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center, Aquiria planted geraniums and petunias next to the Peace Officers Memorial plaque at South Avenue and Front Street, adjacent to the Covelli Centre, as part of Saturday’s annual Streetscape 2013 gathering.

The four-hour event, themed “Grow the YO!”and in its 16th year, saw participants removing weeds, debris and overgrowth, planting a variety of flowers, picking up litter and adding mulch to flowerbeds and around trees throughout the downtown corridor and beyond.

Read more about the effort in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.