Rock solid: New garden builds community one stone at a time
DELMAR—Take one for inspiration, share one for motivation, or leave one to help the garden grow; with the new installation of a Kindness Rock Garden at the Elm Avenue Park by the Delmar Progress Club, they believe the garden embodies the heart of the community and the power of a simple act of kindness.
“We always try to pick a theme every year for our service projects, and this year’s theme was Spread Kindness,” said Co-Chair of the Delmar Progress Club Kathy Raffe. ”We definitely need more kindness in our everyday lives. One of my favorite things that I like to keep in mind is, ‘You cannot spell the word ‘humanity’ without ‘unity.’”
The Kindness Rock Garden is designed to spread messages of unity and positivity, with each rock offering a uniquely personal message. The community is invited to donate their own hand-painted rocks and take the rocks as reminders of motivation or inspiration.
“We were excited when the Progress Club reached out to us about installing a kindness rock garden, as it falls right in line with an important aspect of the Park’s mission: to connect the community,” said Parks and Recreation Administrative Aide Azure Ford, who led the collaboration between the Elm Avenue Park and Delmar Progress Club.
“We hope that people will be encouraged by the messages of kindness painted on the rocks and feel inspired to leave one of their own!” she added.
To prepare for the garden’s installation, Tanya Underwood and Michael Joyce of the organization Delmar Rocks mentored the Delmar Progress Club’s painting of 70 rocks to open the garden. Community members interested in adding to the garden are encouraged to utilize waterproof markers or paint and seal the paint.
The location of Elm Avenue Park was considered ideal for the project due to the high volume of people. The park has decided that they will foster the project’s growth amid their yearly events, including their upcoming summer camps, where they anticipate hosting rock painting activities where children can add to the garden.
”I always felt Parks and Recreation was an easy department in the town to connect with for other organizations. I was so happy to see [The Delmar Progress Club] come to us and bring this beautiful idea and bring it to fruition,” said Parks and Recreation Administrator Jason Gallo.
In addition to creating the garden for the community, the Delmar Progress Club has a long history in the town as a women’s service organization operating in a larger general federation of women’s clubs since 1916. The club focuses on Bethlehem, Albany, and the Capital District.
The Delmar Progress Club is active all year, collaborating with the local community to provide cleaning supplies, gloves, hats, scarves, and other items to those in need. Volunteers bake for Bethlehem Senior Services and have recently sewn 100 hospital gowns for Operation Smile. In February, they donated craft activities for patients at Albany Medical Center’s Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital.
“People are very generous, giving up their time and energy toward these projects,” praised Raffe.
“I think it’s so important for us to remember that we are all people and kindness can be spread so easily,” she added. “It does not cost anything to send a smile somebody’s way, offer a hand, those kinds of things… We can just spread kindness so easily and make people’s days. You never know what the ripple effect of sharing a kind word or gesture can have.”
“Kindness is contagious; it goes on,” said Town Board Member David DeCancio at the opening of the garden on April 16. “People can come here, people who are struggling and need inspiration or want to come here and leave a positive message for somebody else they know may be struggling. This is what community is.”
