THE SOURCE

ROWLEY — Its bright red, white and blue annual flowers stand as a symbol of pride and honor for those who have served this country. And thanks to the Great Marsh Garden Club of Rowley, this Veterans Memorial Star at the town cemetery will be in full bloom just in time for the annual Memorial Day Parade today, which begins at 1:30 p.m. at the VFW and proceeds to the cemetery.

Over the last 20 years, the Veterans Memorial Star has had several groups maintain it, from Girl Scout troops to VFW members to a past garden club. But for the past three years, the Great Marsh Garden Club of Rowley has taken over the task with the goal of creating more permanency to the display by adding additional perennials and landscaping details that create a more lasting impression, said Jill Sczepanski, chairwoman of the club's civic committee.

This year's improvements to the Veterans Memorial Star include adding a perimeter of English boxwood to frame the star and also changing the selection of annuals planted. Last year the club added a drip irrigation system and new soil and installed a cobblestone border. The Great Marsh Garden Club funds the improvements, along with the help of generous donations from various sources, such as the VFW and Cassidy Brothers Ironworks of Rowley, which built and donated a 4-foot support ring for the center of the star. Volunteer groups like the Girl Scouts and local gardeners are still very important in providing the weekly maintenance of the Memorial Star and other projects the club undertakes, Sczepanski said.

"Next year, we would like to add a few wrought iron benches around the Memorial Star to encourage visitors to stop and reflect and appreciate the great sacrifice given for our freedom," she said. "It was an important job for us to do the star because of the strong purpose behind what we were doing: honoring veterans."

The recent beautification projects of the Great Marsh Garden Club, which is open to all — one need not be a Rowley resident to join — have not gone unnoticed.

"The past few Saturdays, I've driven past the Rowley cemetery and seen members of the Great Marsh Garden Club working on the Veterans Memorial Star," Selectman Bob Snow said in a letter to the Great Marsh Garden Club.

"The members of the Great Marsh Garden Club should be very proud for stepping forward and honoring the men and women of our Armed Forces who have given everything they had ... their very lives. What a wonderful gift to be given to our town in memory of our fallen Warriors of Armed Forces of the United States of America."

The club's civic committee seeks out other projects that help beautify the community. The group will soon be working on placing new flower beds and plantings in front of the monuments at Town Hall and on the Town Common and creating and enhancing the beauty of the Town Common with new trees and stones. In addition, the plantings near the gazebo will be reworked as soon as the new roof is completed on the gazebo.

"We greatly welcome and appreciate every helping hand, whether it be in the form of labor, services or funding to help complete projects that enhance the beauty of our community," Sczepanski said.

The mission of the Great Marsh Garden Club of Rowley is to provide information and education on all aspects of horticulture; to facilitate the exchange of knowledge among members sharing a common interest; and to promote and engage the community in the conservation of natural resources and civic beautification of Rowley. Visit them on the Web at www.gmgc.wordpress.com.