Barclay Damon assists with gardens in arts neighborhood

Who takes care of some of the beautifully landscaped gardens at the corner of various city streets? In the Neighborhood of the Arts, gardens by Starry Nites Cafe, all four corners at University and Merriman, and the entry to Portsmouth Terrace just a couple blocks away are managed by a committee affiliated with the Neighborhood of the Arts Neighborhood Association (www.notana.org).

Many of these public garden spaces were developed in conjunction with Art Walk in 2000, and if you’ve been to the Memorial Art Gallery or attended First Friday events at Writers and Books or Anderson Alley, you’ve likely noticed the greenery and color as you came into the neighborhood.

The NOTA Neighborhood Association website tells more about the gardens and volunteer opportunities. Sara Rydkina chairs the Garden Committee with other volunteers from the neighborhood, but additional volunteers are always needed to help with garden maintenance.

That’s where Barclay Damon LLP recently came into the picture with 20 law office volunteers helping to dig and pull weeds at the corner of University Avenue and Portsmouth Terrace. With guidance from Rydkina and fellow NOTA committee members Boo Poulin and Joe Yakojfy, the law office volunteers filled many garbage bags with debris on Sept. 14.

“This is our first time doing gardening work as a team,” explained Mark Whitmore Jr., noting that previous community service days have been completed at Foodlink and other nonprofit organizations.

“I think everyone likes the idea of getting out of the office on a nice day.”

Prepared with garden gloves, rakes, shovels and brooms, the Barclay Damon volunteers dug out and pulled weeds ranging to 5 feet tall while others collected the pulled debris into garbage bags.

Nora A. Jones is a Rochester-area freelance writer.