Walk a Little Farther at Livermore's Butterfly Garden, Thanks to a Girl Scout
By Patricia Koning
Kelsey Engel, front, got some help from her friends.
While most teenagers spent their spring break sleeping late, watching television and movies, or playing video games, Granada High School sophomore Kelsey Engel spent hers digging. For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she added approximately 60 feet of path to the Butterfly Garden adjacent to the Livermore Public Library’s Civic Center branch.
The project was accomplished almost entirely through sweat equity, along with generous donations of materials from local companies. Kelsey and her father spent an entire day digging out rock to prepare the path, most of which later went right back into the path. She also got help from fellow Girl Scout Jennifer Dreisbach and her father, friends Ciarra Trujillo and Jeff Wofford, her uncle, and her brother.
“One of my troop-mates made a quilt for her Gold Award project. I would have killed to have been making a quilt after digging for eight hours straight,” says Kelsey.
They added a wooden border, donated by John Deere Landscaping, and topped the path with decomposed granite mixed with cement, donated by Cochran Landscaping. H.O. Crete laid a cement pad under a large tree along the path for a bench that was donated by the City of Livermore.
Despite the hard work, she’s thrilled with the results. “I’m very happy with how it turned out,” she says.
“Kelsey did an awesome job,” says Howard Greenup, of the City of Livermore’s Landscape Maintenance Department, who managed the project for the City.
The Butterfly Garden is a hidden treasure of Livermore. With a circular path and several meandering routes, native plants, a demonstration garden, and now a shaded bench, the Garden is the perfect place to meditate or relax.
The Butterfly Garden is located between the Civic Center branch of the Livermore Public Library and the Arbor Vista Senior Apartments on South Livermore Avenue. It was created when the new Library was built in 2004.
In 2005, a Boy Scout planted the California Native Plant Zone for his Eagle project. A medicinal garden, Asian plant zone, and Mediterranean plant zone are planned, but have not yet been planted.
Greenup says the garden was planned as an opportunity for Girl and Boy Scout projects. Anyone interested in continuing work on the garden as a volunteer project can contact Justin Drinkwater, the Parks Supervisor, at 960-8020.
The Gold Award is the highest award that a 14- to 18-year-old Girl Scout can achieve. It’s akin to the Boy Scout’s Eagle Award. The project, which must be approved by the Girl Scout council, is intended to fulfill a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global), create change, and become ongoing. Projects must encompass organizational, leadership, and networking skills.
Kelsey is the first of the nine members of her Girl Scout troop to complete her Gold Award project. The other members have projects in progress. The troop has been together for nine years—since Kindergarten.
“They’re my best friends. I love how we meet every other Friday, work on badges together, and volunteer to do stuff,” she says. Recently the girls went whitewater rafting for a badge and helped with the holiday food drive for the Alameda County Food Bank.
Kelsey’s mom, Tena, says she never expected the troop to stay together all these years, but that it’s been a wonderful experience. The parents also meet on their own, to play Bunco, have dinner, and watch movies together. In June, to celebrate their graduation from Girl Scouts, the nine members and their families will go on cruise to Mexico.