Sechelt Legion members are gazing on a newly-landscaped courtyard this week after local businesses volunteered their time, materials and expertise last Saturday to beautify the area that had been neglected.
"The entire Legion staff are volunteers, and we've been trying to get that area in shape for a few years. But we knew it would be a long job," said Bill Clark, secretary for the Legion.
He said Legionnaires had just finished making the courtyard a priority work project when John de Jong of Weedman offered to get the job done.
"We were so shocked at the wonderful gesture," said Clark.
De Jong had driven by the legion for the last year and noticed the courtyard needed a lot of work.
"I knew they needed the work done but had no money to do it. I have been connected off and on with the Legion since 1970 and I know they do tons in the community, which is where all their money goes. They really have nothing left to pay for things like landscaping. There was even talk of selling part of their property to pay for taxes," said de Jong.
He started phoning fellow landscapers and labourers and found everyone was willing to help him fix up the Legion's grounds."It took me all of about 10 minutes to organize," he said.
De Jong, along with other local landscapers and labourers, set to work last Saturday resurfacing the green space, fixing up parking cement blocks and planting shrubs and flowers.
The work party consisted of de Jong, Steve Marsh of Marsh Landscaping, Glen Porter of GreensKeeper Lawn Care, Ryan Marsh from Rent-It Canada, Aaron de Jong and Jack Phillips. Gibsons Building Supplies donated materials and Casey's Country Gardens supplied the shrubs and flowers.
Legion groundskeeper Bill Boxall and his wife also put in hours of labour on the project.
The end result of their daylong effort is a beautifully-landscaped courtyard that the Legion can be proud of.
"Once the grass starts to come up it's going to look super. The effort everyone put in is just out of this world," Clark added.
