Petunia Planting

The sixth grade planted petunias on Onekama's Main Street for the Portage Lake Association Petunia Parade.

The girls at the left are showing how to use the template for flower placement and the proper root loosening techniques.
After the rain on Monday, some of the ground was very wet and muddy and there were some big puddles along the curb
We were split into five groups. Each group worked with a volunteer from the Portage Lake Association. Different areas were designated for the different groups. Roz Jaffe was the group leader here.

You had to be willing to get dirty. Brandon, Erica and Josh didn't mind the mud.
Some groups could work all together. Here, Tim Binkley and his great group of girls show their ability to work as a team.

 
But sometimes, you had to check just how dirty that was.
A few students were specialists in snuggling the dirt up around the baby petunias. Adriana worked hard securing the petunias in the soil. Dusty picked up the empty plant containers.

This group leader, Mary Jane Showalter, convinced her group that their stretch will be the pretttiest.

This picture shows them in their muddy stage.
It takes a lot of bending to plant petunias...sometimes, one needs to stand up and watch for a minute.

We had lots of smiles. Here is Sam. Sam's job is taking the plants out of their containers.
And more smiles. These belong to Jordan and Chris.

And more smiles....Ashley, Ashley, Kayla, and Nichole
Sometimes it was serious...The Portage Lake Association volunteers told us to expect to plant more than 6,000 petunias.
Sometimes we worked very closely--like right in front of our neighbors.
We also shared space and responsibilities well.
Look at the long rows of plants! It takes lots of long rows to plant all of those blocks along Main Street.
Here we see Mr. Welburn sweeping up some stray dirt.
At the end--cleanup before the refreshments.
Juice and popcorn at the corner near the tennis courts.

 

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