Volunteers clean and weed

Over 33 volunteers from the Sisters branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Sisters Garden Club worked on weeding, sweeping, and collecting debris at the Sisters Welcome Garden on Saturday, September 21.

Volunteers also worked on the garden just west of the Welcome Garden.

The Sisters Garden Club maintains several garden sites in Sisters.

"It's our gift to the city," Kathy Plank, a member of the Sisters Garden Club, said. She also said that she appreciated the help of the LDS church group because, as Plank said, "We lost our grip on it this year and we had to pull in some help."

"Every year the local LDS church does a service project," explained Larry Nelson, the president of the Sisters Garden Club. "When the Sisters LDS Church group asked the city about a community-service project, they were told the Garden Club could use a work party."

Nelson said that the Welcome Garden needed a lot of work. A tree was taken out and a lot of weeds found their way into the dump truck bed. It was a lot of work, but "it was a labor of love."

The volunteers were all ages and levels of gardening experience, but one thing they all shared was enthusiasm.

When asked why he was helping with the gardening, Brigham Ford, age 13 said, "I'm here to make a pretty place."

He had a big smile on his face.

The missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Kupitz and Elder Barber, were there helping out, too.

"Service is a way of life for us," Elder Barber said.

Editor's note: The City of Sisters will remove several trees from the Welcome Garden area at the request of the Sisters Garden Club. The club will be replanting dwarf trees.