Trigg County’s ever-growing Blue Star Memorial Garden got a major face lift Wednesday morning — celebrating not only a living tribute to the community’s veterans who have served in the Armed Forces, but also because April 22 is Earth Day.
Through the combined efforts of the vigilant Gateway Garden Club, the Trigg County High School CTC classes of Karen Nolcox and Noah Peake, City of Cadiz employees and Christian County Jail inmates, nearly 4,400 square feet of mulch was mastered in about an hour — brightening a space that’s been blooming since at least 1990.
Becky Oliver, long-time club president, said it was a perfect way to marry Earth Day with America’s 250th birthday.
And right now, she added, is the perfect time to “get started.”
It’s worth noting that the club meets at this garden at least once a month, and has done so for nearly four decades, and also cycles with it monthly meetings at various locations — most frequently at the John L. Street Library.
In 2002, then Judge-Executive Berlin Moore contacted Oliver to seek understanding of the Blue Star Memorial Highway program — which for Kentucky runs through US 68/80.
In 2003, the garden was officially commemorated, and in 2019, the Blue Star marker was placed.
Now, she said, the garden is more than a “beauty spot,” and it needs tending.
Deb Thomas has lived in Trigg County for more than 30 years, but has only been in the club for the last four — mostly at the request of her mother-in-law.
Now, she’s district director for Kentucky with four clubs under her purview — Cadiz, Mayfield, Paducah and Madisonville — all of which have different responsibilities, from the re-beautification of Graves County after the December 2021 tornadoes, to McCracken County’s popular Whitehaven Visitors Center, to Hopkins County’s green efforts.
The Blue Star Memorial Garden, she said, is a proud place for her group.
Patty Ahlert and her husband retired to Trigg County last year after living in Nashville for more than a decade.
Looking to get outside more, she joined the club at the request of a neighbor, and hasn’t looked back.
Those wishing to join the club can contact Oliver by her landline, (270) 522-3150, or E-mail her at beckyoliver42211@gmail.com.
