Neighbors and volunteers got dirty to help spruce up a part of an East Hill community greenbelt last weekend.
Kenton Firs Community Association members and friends spent a sunny, crisp fall Friday and Saturday in Kent removing invasive overgrowth to plant an assortment of native trees, plants and shrubs.
“It’s great … to beautify this,” said Donna Schell, a resident of the Kenton Firs neighborhood since 1981.
The project was made possible through a matching $5,000 neighborhood grant the city of Kent awarded to the association. About 350 plants and trees of many native species and sizes were carefully planted throughout a quarter-acre parcel of the Kenton Firs’ 3-acre greenbelt.
“We want our community to see what it would look like when it’s taken care of properly,” said Marsha St Louis, the Kenton Firs project coordinator for the restoration effort.
The association traditionally conducts spring and fall cleanups in the neighborhood, but had not focused on the greenbelt – until last weekend. Since joining the city in 2010 as part of the Panther Lake annexation, Kenton Firs has been able to secure the means, including a grant, to do landscape maintenance and project work.
St. Louis said it was important to restore the parcel so it could become a visible, beautiful, safe feature in the neighborhood.
Joselyn Cook, St. Louis’ granddaughter, was more than happy to join the planting party.
“It’s my grandmother’s pet project,” Cook said, “and I want to help out whenever I can.”
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