NoFo Garden To Honor Essential Workers

Mattituck Girl Scout Troop 865 is going for bronze, and the girls are doing it with butterflies.

The idea is to create a garden at Veterans Park, “and we want to grow it into an honorary garden to honor COVID-19 essential workers, our community heroes, for their efforts in the pandemic of 2020,” said Troop Leader Bethany Siar.

The Mattituck Park District board of commissioners has already given the go-ahead.

“We look forward to seeing the community come together individually with plants to create a beautiful garden in this troublesome time,” said Siar, who co-leads the girls with Trisha Zlatniski.

The troop — most likely along with some members of Boy Scout Pack 39 — will plant flowers and herbs that attract butterflies, which don’t get as much attention as bees, but also serve as pollinators for many medicinal plants and flora.

Siar said the troop will be creating a wish list at Trimble’s in Cutchogue, but is happy to get help from any other nursery that may be willing to pitch in, along with anyone who may want to donate statuary, benches, bird baths, and more.

“We will be planting only native plants, such as seaside goldenrod, fall-blooming asters for the seashore birds, and then butterfly bushes and more to come after I hear from Trimble’s,” Siar said. “This will continue post-pandemic, since I work at the Mattituck Park District and our troop meets there. We will come there individually — and the community is welcome to as well — to plant, but I told the troop if they run into anyone else there, it isn’t playtime, they have to social distance and plant apart from each other.”

Donations can be purchased anywhere, but Trimble’s will be keeping a list of what the troop needs.

“The girls had planned on the butterfly garden for their Bronze Award in February,” Siar said, adding the troop also put in for approval with Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. “Then, over the past month, we have been emailing and still earning patches — that I mail to them — for things like virtual museum tours and park cleanups.”

“We were making signs for the community heroes to bring over to the testing center when we started coming up with the idea to grow it into a community heroes garden,” Siar said, “where everyone could participate and it would be a nice dedication.”

Those who want to donate or help can contact Siar at nofogs865@yahoo.com or by calling 631-848-8858.

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