Brookings’ Yards of the Month for June

The City of Brookings is continuing to highlight both residential homes and commercial spaces that go above and beyond to make the City an even more beautiful place to live. A well-maintained yard or garden is symbol of hard-work, a point of personal pride for the residents, and an inspiring sight for neighbors.

Winners are rewarded with a commemorative certificate, a yard-sign declaring their award to the community, and a $50 credit on their water bill.

Here are the commercial and residential winners for the July Yard of the Month award:

Kalmiopsis School Garden

The K-School garden has been a community fixture since the early 2000’s, and received a new lease on life after the pandemic began to subside in 2022.

Julia Bott, Michelle Gayden & Frank Furtaw are the main volunteers for the program, providing green-thumb guidance for elementary aged students. There are three 2nd grade classes and three 4th grade classes helping to maintain the garden.

The kids do the majority of the gardening, getting the hands-on experience of growing multiple kinds of flowers and fruits. The students were just getting ready to harvest some strawberries; they were very excited to get to literally taste the fruit of their hard work.

Another primary focus of the garden is encouraging local pollinators. The Kalmiopsis School, a monarch school, also hopes to provide a home for their namesake butterflies.

1466 Glenwood Drive – Peter & Tabitha Maldonado

Peter and Tabitha received the June award for their newly redone yard, and when you see the before and after, you can see why appreciative neighbors thought to nominate them. The City Building official Dennis Tippetts agreed and was happy to recognize and encourage a positive transformation for their neighborhood with this award.

The Maldonados put in a lovely step stone path surrounded by well maintained flower beds. Bright white yard furniture and accents provide a classy contrast to the high walls of green hedge, and pops of color dot the yard thanks to some well-selected flowers, both potted and growing in the yard.

The Maldonados were gracious hosts. They and Zara, their adorable German Shepard, greeted City representatives with smiles and fresh-squeezed lemonade when receiving their certificate.

If you would like to make a nomination for next month’s award they can reach out to Natasha Tippets or Lauri Zeimer with the City of Brookings.

Natasha Tippetts

541-469-1102

ntippetts@brookings.or.us

Lauri Zeimer

541-469-1103

lziemer@brookings.or.us