Secret Gardener Vicki Raabin's Streetscape Project

What's being said more and more about Beacon NY is that the citizens are making it great. While that's a pretty good political slogan, it's ringing true. As one walks by the pleasantries and stops to smell the roses, one may notice they are admiring sunflowers, lavender, basil and other herbs in addition to the potted and hanging floral arrangements that adorn Main Street. What you are witnessing is an "urban streetscape project" by one of Main Street's most known citizens, Miss Vicki Raabin. She is one of several, independently driven, "secret gardeners" that keep the streets looking nice.

Several garden plots started and maintained by Miss Vicki Raabin outside of stores including Play, Towne Crier, The Pandorica, and across the street from Poppy's next to Beacon Bread Company.

In May of 2014, Miss Vicki, most commonly known as the local music teacher and music venue organizer, decided to put some action to her critical thoughts as she walked Main Street and grew dissatisfied with the sidewalk trees. "I got tired of seeing all of the gravel around the trees. My feeling is, if you're complaining about something, you need to step up and do something about it. It bothered me and I felt we could do better." 

Miss Vicki Raabin feeding and watering her plants in her urban streetscape project along Main Street.

Raabin started the project a few years ago with small tulip beds. But this year, she committed to herself to "take over small spaces and make them viable again." Working closely with several local businesses on Main Street, Raabin has received strong support from a growing number of storefronts with beds near their buildings, including Tito Santana Taqueria, Towne Crier, Bank Square, Mountain Tops, Beacon Bread Company, and Key Food.

Donations from the businesses have come in an unusual form: egg shells and water from Towne Cryer; coffee grounds from Bank Square and Beacon Bread Company; bags of mulch from Key Foods, more water from Kamel Jamel, owner of Tito's who fostered a partnership with Green Teen by way of putting in the Common Greens Garden at Tito Santana which has a water collection system. Local residents have given Raabin shubbery when splitting plants in their own gardens which is helpful for acquiring butterfly bushes, creeping thyme, lavender and maybe hostas for next year.

One of many planters designed and maintained by the Tioronda Garden Club.

Miss Vicki isn't the only one making Main Street beautiful. The potted plants you walk past at major street corners, and all of the hanging petunia baskets are put together by the Tioronda Garden Club, which fundraises for its yearly budget with individual donations and events, like a Wine and Cheese night. In fact, the Tioronda Garden Club gave Raabin some of their flox to act as ground cover for tree plots, as flox is a hearty plant that spreads easily over the years and looks beautiful with masonry.

Hanging baskets on Main Street are put together by the Tioronda Garden Club and watered by Mayor Casale.

As for the watering of all of these flowers and plantings, you'll see Miss Vicki pulling her red wagon from the Visitor's Center at beginning of Main Street all the way to Towne Crier where she gets another water fill and picks up egg shells to be used as plant food. But who waters those hanging baskets? Years ago, the hanging plants were on the chopping block down at 1 Municipal Plaza during Mayor Gold's tenure. Then council member, Randy Casale volunteered to do the watering, since the Tioronda Garden Club supplied the hanging baskets through their fundraising efforts. He woke up to drive the cherry picker truck in the early mornings when it was still dark. 

As for now Mayor Casale, he still wakes up early to water.  "I do it because it I believe the beautiful flowers that are put together by the hard work of all the volunteers of the Tioronda Garden Club makes our Main Street vibrant and attractive. This is also a way for me to mentally relax. I would like to thank all our volunteers who help to keep our city the city that it is."

Gardening certainly is relaxing. And right now, it's helping Beacon to stay original and special as a train town along the beautiful Hudson River. Secret gardening is offering ways for citizens to dig in, literally into the earth of Beacon to keep it vibrant and ever-changing.