To the editor:

On behalf of the city of Houghton I’d like to thank the Beautification Committee volunteers and all those who donated plants and time toward the city’s 2016 efforts. The work done by the volunteers continues to improve the overall look and feel of our town, adding color and life to our public spaces.

The gardens you see in our parks and along the waterfront are filled with mostly perennial plants that will continue to grow and bloom year after year on their own. This summer more than 15 new gardens were created, adding to more than a dozen planted last year.

We cannot begin to thank those volunteers enough for their time. The hobby gardeners and master gardeners who shared their expertise – Quincy Higgins Arney, Elena Busova, Sharon Cuff, Jean DeClerk; Sarah, Alena, and Autumn Eles, Deb Kinsie, Betty MacInnes, Mary Ovist, Kathie Salmi, Allison Waara; Tiia and Stella Wickstrom – and Martie Leonard and Julie Waara for leading the effort. Also thanks to those random folks who stopped by and lent a hand for an hour out their evening and those who delivered plants after tending their own gardens.

The Pewabic Street Community Garden group made a huge donation of plants. Also making large donations were Alan Sunn, Larry and Rachel Lankton, Illa and Dennis Garver, Jane and Tom Hiltunen, Jan Dalquist, Annie Coponen, Mimi and Tom Merz , Margaret and Vernon Axford, Duffy Lepisto, and Janet Kaurala.

Such generosity and caring about a community should make us all proud.

Eric Waara

Houghton