Celebrate Springtime in Chester!

It's time to activate spring and summer floral displays around Chester by supporting the planter campaign organized by Chester Townscape, a committee of tax-exempt Chester Community Alliance. Chester Townscape is once again soliciting contributions to purchase large containers that will be filled with soil and planted with flowers. These planters will be placed in key locations throughout the town to show that Chester is a thriving and welcoming place to visit, shop, and live.

The familiar gray planters and barrels will soon grace a variety of very visible public places: the Village Green walkways, Whiting Library, Post Office, Chester Railway Station, Depot gazebo, and Pinnacle Recreation Center, as well as flower boxes on the North Street/Route 103 Bridge and Town Hall. New projects this year include creating flower boxes for the South Route 103 Bridge, adding hanging baskets at the Pinnacle, and increasing colorful plantings at the Family Center.

Businesses and residents are encouraged to support these beautification efforts by donating to the public part of the effort and/or by purchasing a planter for their own business or property. The cost of each new, planted container is $85, and the cost of replanting a previously purchased planter is $50. However every sponsored pot or contribution to the effort will be appreciated and add to a coordinated look for the town that lasts well into fall.

To order a new, planted container or to order the replanting of a pot purchased last year, please contact Tory Spater at 802-875-2952 or [email protected]. She can email a copy of the order form, but copies of the form are also available at Misty Valley Books and the Whiting Library. The check for a planter and/or a contribution should be made payable to Chester Community Alliance, Inc., marked for Chester Townscape in the memo line, and mailed to Chester Townscape, PO Box 561, Chester, VT 05143. A swift response in donations will help secure pots and plants before planting takes place to ensure a glorious display for Memorial Day Weekend.

Chester Townscape encourages wide-ranging support for this effort and welcomes suggestions of additional sites that would benefit from a planter to help make Chester more appealing and attractive. Please contact Tory Spater with suggestions and help Chester Townscape bring out the best in Chester.

Photo Caption: Chester Townscape member Cheryl LeClair moves a planted pot into position at the Chester Depot gazebo in spring 2015. The public is invited to help make those colorful displays appear again by supporting Chester Townscape's planter project for the 2016 growing season!