Raised Bed Gardens Ready for Replanting at Dean Park

Sandra Moncrief preparing to paint art on garden beds

Friends of Dean Park, Inc. (FODP) is preparing to start its Garden Program soon. The 12 Raised Bed Gardens were built in 2010 with a grant from Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service Disability Inclusion Mini-Grant through AmeriCorps Volunteer Teacher Assistants of: Mississippi Action for Progress, Inc /Winston County Complex Head Start. This project has taught many disabled residents, seniors and children how to garden by Winston County Master Gardeners Elmetra Patterson, Richard Moncrief and gardener Christine Waldrip. This past fall a home school group came weekly and learned gardening with hopes of returning this spring. There is space on the back of the gardens where watermelon, cantaloupes, running butterbeans, string beans, cucumbers, and squash will be grown vertically. Peas, okra and a variety of greens are grown behind the gardens also. All other vegetables are grown inside the beds. This garden project is opened to the public.  

Watermelon grown vertically at Dean Park

The FODP will hold Beautification Day and Good Friday Prayer Services will be held on Good Friday, April 19, 2019, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Prayer Services will be held 12 noon – 1 p.m. in memory of former Dean Park Commissioner Claudell Weaver who started the Good Friday Prayer Service in 2012. This is the 5th anniversary of her passing. This year’s theme will be ‘Let us Pray for Unity in America’. Refreshments will be donated by Walmart #00183. This is a good time for students to volunteer for community service hours for college and scholarships. Contact Information: Elmetra Patterson 510-672-2106 or Richard Moncrief 662.736-3323

Sumitted by: Elmetra Patterson

Photos courtesy of: Elmetra Patterson & Richard Moncrief

The late Claudell Weaver, former Dean Park Commissioner and founder of Good Friday Prayer Services at Dean Park