By Alicia Tang
On the hot summer day that was July 9, Dean Genovese’s Eagle Scout project, a butterfly garden at the Greenwich Woods Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, opened its gates to the public.
With his fellow troopmates huddling around him, Genovese released a kaleidoscope of monarch butterflies into his garden at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Genovese belongs to Troop 400 from Port Chester in NY. Now 17 years old, Genovese had been involved with the boy scouts for over a decade before he applied to become an eagle scout, which is the highest and most prestigious honor awarded to a scout.
The prerequisites for becoming an eagle scout are many, but Genovese ultimately believes it is perseverance and ambition that characterize an eagle scout. He believes that an eagle scout is “someone who can set a goal, and accomplish it… even if it takes a while.” The garden was his final step in becoming one.
Though the heat was stifling, and the weeds were onerous to remove, Genoevese, and his dedicated troop and family persisted. The new garden was the product of four toilsome weekends under the sun, clearing, weeding, fertilizing, and planting. Now the senior center’s garden, once unrecognizable and dilapidated, features a melody of bursting colors and a whopping 52 different plant species including milkweed–a monarch butterfly favorite.
Genovese’s great aunt, Eunice Cajar, is a resident of the Greenwich Woods Center and the muse of the project.
“When she was back at her home in Manchester, Connecticut, we would visit her often…and sometimes go to her backyard to play,” Genovese recalls fondly.
Cajar had quite the green thumb. “Her own gardens were her pride and joy. They were also a wonderful source of mental therapy and physical exercise. Dean wanted to create the same kind of environment for her and her senior friends at her new home,” Dean’s mother, Maria Genovese explained. Dean also had a passion for butterfly and insect preservation as well as a concern for climate change she said.
It seems as though the garden was as much a blessing to the Greenwich Woods residents as it was a sanctuary to the butterflies. The picturesque grounds have lured the senior citizens out from their cocoons.
“We all love being outside, but the gardens had become overgrown and unruly. It was difficult to enjoy.” said resident Patricia Ramirez. Previously the paths winding around the garden were nearly submerged in dirt – dirt which Genovese and his team cleared off. “Now that the garden area is so pretty, we will all spend more time outside again … we have our own little paradise.”
The garden gave resident Francis Pataky, Jr. a sense of community and vitality. “We are a family at Greenwich Woods and this garden will make for a great place for us to gather together. I feel more alive just being here.” said Pataky.
“The Eagle Scout Troop has worked exceptionally hard to provide our residents with a beautiful garden getaway. We are all very excited to utilize this new addition for outdoor activities, and to start our new garden care program which will include planting herbs, vegetables, and flowers – as well as watering and adding bird seeds to the birdhouses, also donated by the Eagle Scouts,” Cristina Esteves, Recreation Director at Greenwich Woods said. “A great big thank you to Troop 400 from all of us at Greenwich Woods.”
