June 9, 2005

Bambu Allgaier, left, joins Elizabeth Price and Eugene Beer in the recently cleaned-up "pocket park" between the Yellow Springs Senior Center and The Emporium.

By Diane Chiddister

Last Saturday about a dozen volunteers spent a hot day sprucing up part of downtown, and now the “pocket park” between the Yellow Springs Senior Center and The Emporium has a new, cleaned up look.

“I think it’s great. It looks wonderful,” said Nita Murphy, the Emporium’s owner. That store will sponsor a wine-tasting during the Street Fair on Saturday, June 11, at the former Organic Grocery space, so the park’s improved appearance may help attract people to that event, she said.

Michael Cannon, the interim office manager of the Chamber of Commerce who organized the cleanup, said he was pleased with the turnout. “We had the right number of people with the right skills and the right amount of enthusiasm,” he said.

The volunteers added topsoil to a flower bed, cleared away weeds from a planted area along the sidewalk leading to Kieth’s Alley and planted new flowers, Cannon said. They cleaned and painted the fence and removed the old Organic Grocery sign, replacing it with a fabric artwork by local artist Pierre Nagley. The volunteers also cleaned up and placed within the pocket park a bright yellow bench.

Cannon organized the effort after about a month working at the Chamber. Since taking the job, he has spent a lot of time hanging out downtown and thinking of ways to improve it, said Cannon, who also works at the Winds and as a freelance information designer. What most impressed him, he said, is that a little effort could go a long way.

“I saw a lot of areas that just needed a touch-up,” he said. “A lot of little stuff could easily be done to spark up downtown.”

The pocket park has sometimes been the object of tension, with elders going to the Senior Center feeling intimidated by the young people who hang out there, Cannon said. He said he hopes the effort to beautify the space could help seniors feel more comfortable in the park, and that those who hang out there will keep the park clean.

Rodney Bean, the director of the Senior Center, said he doesn’t believe a spruced up space will help reduce tensions between the seniors and those who hang out in the park. However, he does applaud the volunteer cleanup.

“We appreciate all the time and effort that people put in,” he said.

Bean said he objects to the term “pocket park,” since the space is privately owned by The Emporium and the Senior Center.

Pleased with the results of Saturday’s effort, Cannon has set his sights on a new project: a cleanup of Kieth’s Alley. That effort is still in the planning stage, he said, and he will publicize it when he nails down the details.

Cannon, who recently returned to Yellow Springs after attending Antioch College in the 1970s, said he sees the village with fresh eyes. He likes what he sees, he said, and just wants to make it better.

“If there wasn’t so much beauty around town already, I wouldn’t be inspired to do this,” he said. “The village inspires me.”