Last spring and summer a small group of people worked together to draw up a plan for a special kind of garden on the North Shore Health campus. They named it Serenity Garden, which means, “a peaceful space in nature for reflection and healing.”
Although the dream for transforming the barren courtyard located between a wing of the hospital and a wing of the Care Center, both newly remodeled, had been floating through many minds and expressed on various occasions, there was a particular day when the dream almost magically, but certainly serendipitously took form.
On that particular day, a woman had been visiting a Care Center resident whose windows looked out onto this barren courtyard. The resident said to the woman, “I thought something was going to be done with that area.” The woman pondered the resident’s comment as she entered the main hall where she intersected with Kimber Wraalstad, CEO of North Shore Health (NSH). There she asked Kimber about plans for that barren space. Kimber’s face brightened as she smiled and said, “Let me tell you my vision for it.” Which she did as the two walked toward the main lobby where Michelle Lewis was hosting at the front desk.
Here the next serendipitous moment occurred when Kimber introduced Michelle Lewis who has a degree in environmental design from the University of Minnesota and has worked at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Would she like to work on this project? Most enthusiastically! So, the woman pledged to invite others to join in the development of this vision. Again, serendipity intervened when she attended a Care Partner meeting where she learned that Nancy Koloski, a retired insurance administrator, was a West End Garden Club member. Yes, Nancy would be interested and asked if she could invite Marilyn Morris, a summer Cook County resident and professional landscaper in California during the rest of the year. After a Grand Marais Garden Club meeting, another experienced gardener, Monica Anderson, volunteered to join the group.
Thus, the “Three M’s”—Marilyn, Michelle, and Monica—became the “design team” for Serenity Garden, giving more than 250 hours of their time last summer designing a professional drawing for the garden. They continue to follow-up with planning, although Marilyn needs to participate long-distance today.
After last summer
In autumn it was time to find a way to make this garden happen. Besides individuals named above, Gerry Grant, Mary Sanders, and Chris Lange, NSH Director of Maintenance, met on a regular basis. The committee applied to the Lloyd K Johnson Foundation for funding and after an on-site interview with the foundation, received a $60,000 grant. With Nancy Koloski appointed as Project Manager, work with contractors began. This summer will see installation of “hardscaping” (walkways and seating areas) and “landscaping” (contouring for drainage, adding some elements, planting a few trees). Plans are to let the Serenity Garden rest over winter, and then plant flowers, grass, shrubs, and more trees next spring.
The invitation
Now the time has come to extend an invitation to the wider community to explore the future of Serenity Garden—asking, “How will we support, maintain and enhance this peace-filled place?” You are invited to an information celebration for SERENITY GARDEN in the comfort of your own home, at the screen of your choice on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m. To receive your personal invitation on Friday, June 5, send your email to marylsanders@mail.com by Thursday, June 4. Along with your personal invitation you will receive instructions on connecting to the June 6 meeting, an agenda for the meeting, and your own diagram of Serenity Garden. No Internet access? Call Mary at 218-387-1729 and leave a voice mail message with your phone number. We will find a way to keep you informed.
In order to support, maintain, and enhance Serenity Garden, we will need multiple talents and time from many individuals. To meet this need we are forming Serenity Garden Friends, a way for folks to share their talents including, but not limited to communication (taking photos, setting up a website, making phone calls, etc.); donations (plants and/or money); and labor. The latter talent sharing will be especially needed next spring and summer when new plantings will need watering and tender care.
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