Improvement Club History
Article, 2009

Annandale Improvement Club
News article- Annandale Advocate
September 15, 2009

The flowers that spilled out of 26 baskets hanging from Annandale's Main Street canopies looked more attractive than ever this summer.  That's at least partly because after several years the people responsible for them have come up with the right formula.   So the news that the city can't afford to pay for the program next summer came at an especially bad time.  

The Annandale City Council approved a 2010 Beautification Committee budget this month that provides no money to buy the baskets.  That followed a council vote last month to no longer water hanging baskets next year to save money because of state aid cutbacks.  Mayor Brennan "Buck" McAlpin has said it's hoped business owners will buy and water the baskets that hang from their canopies.  

Beautification Committee members said last week they want the baskets to continue decorating Main Street next year, but it's far from certain that they will.  "They really were very beautiful," committee member Kathy Wenngatz said of this summer's lush crop of petunias, geraniums and other blooms.  Visitors love the hanging baskets, committee member Laurel Miller said, and they help make Annandale stand out more than other small towns.  "We finally found the right formula about a year or two ago," Wenngatz said, crediting Bernie Weber, who has planted and cared for the baskets during their several-year history.  Miller added the formula covers everything from the right kind of plant to the need to water the baskets "every single morning, every day of the summer."  "None of us are very happy," Wenngatz said of committee members' reaction to the lack of funding. "We would love for it to continue because it adds to our town."  Others have expressed disappointment too, she said.  

The idea of business owners buying and watering the baskets next year could be tried to see if it would work, she said.  But according to Miller, "that won't happen." She pointed to the post office and vacant buildings whose owners wouldn't buy and maintain baskets. "So what have you got left?"  Miller said she wants to see the baskets continue, but only if they're done correctly. One group of volunteer waterers would do a good job while another wouldn't, she said.  "I would prefer not to do them if they can't be done properly."  Not without watering  There might be a way to stretch the committee's $2,100 - $1,100 from the city and $1,000 from the Improvement Club - to buy the baskets, she said, but "we're not going to do it without the watering."  If the Lions Club or other group wants to raise some money and donate it to the city for watering, that would be taken into consideration, she said.  

City administrator Mark Casey agreed that watering is the main issue, particularly the need to water the baskets on weekends because the city has to pay overtime for that, he said.  Both Wenngatz and Miller said a city program that allows residents to contribute to the Beautification Fund by making a donation on their utility bills could help bring the baskets back next year.  A statement on the bills tells residents to call city hall if they want to donate, and the city will send out a form on which they can indicate the amount, Casey said.  The city will add it to their monthly bill as a beautification donation. "It's strictly voluntary," he said, and it can be added or deleted anytime.  The committee plans to keep the basket hardware, Miller said, and even if they're gone next year, they could return in future years.  "It might take a couple years and they might (again) be up on Main Street," she said.