MOUNT VERNON – Volunteer caretakers of the Gay Street United Methodist Church were honored recently with Town & Country Garden Club's 2021 Beautification Award for their efforts toward the church's new all-season landscape.

The landscaping done at the church, which included replacing all of the plant material to either side of the main entrance, was carried out and maintained entirely by the volunteer effort of caretakers. The variety of plants used ensure "some will remain attractive in the winter and the remaining will bloom throughout the spring, summer and fall," Town & Country Garden Club Civic Affairs chairwoman Susan Givens said.

Givens presented the award to the church's caretakers on Wednesday, Sept. 8, in front of the church on North Gay Street, Mount Vernon. The caretakers are Bob and Carol Brown, Ken and Claudia Grove, Bruce and Marilyn Hoy, Dick and Joyce Miller, Jon and Debbie Butler and Mary Kepple.

The commemorative plaque created in their honor reads, "Celebrating parishioners' nurturing of the new all-season landscape which welcomes all who enter and pass by the church."  

Town & Country Garden Club's Beautification Award is presented annually to support and encourage civic pride through landscaping. 

Caption: Susan Givens, left, civic affairs chairwoman for the Town & Country Garden Club, presents the September 2021 Beautification Award for new all-season landscape to the volunteers who take care of the Gay Street United Methodist Church's landscaping, Mary Kepple, right, and not pictured: Bob and Carol Brown, Ken and Claudia Grove, Bruce and Marilyn Hoy, Dick and Joyce Miller, and Jon and Debbie Butler.