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HILLSBOROUGH: Keeping HES grounds looking good

By Andrew Corselli, Staff Writer
   There may be snow on the ground, but Karen Briegs already is thinking about the next spring cleanup at Hillsborough Elementary School.
   In September 2009, the Home and School Association appointed Ms. Briegs as the chairwoman of the Outdoor Beautification Committee at HES.
   Ms. Briegs had been staging spring and fall cleanups at the school for years, but ever since she was given the title, the HES parent and avid gardener has been working hard to make the school grounds an aesthetic masterpiece.
   ”I think it is a huge benefit to the kids to have a pleasant, well-dressed school to go to every day,” she said in a press release, “but there are limited funds to spend on the property so I knew when I took this on that I’d have to be pretty creative.”
   Working on a shoestring budget of about $400 per year, she, along with Boy Scout Pack 89, got the ball rolling that October with the first official cleanup.
   ”The Outdoor Beautification Committee has always taken on responsibility for the flower beds around the school,” Ms. Briegs said in a telephone interview Monday. “Also, there’s a flag area across from the main door with a bench and we’ve always cared for that section as well.
   ”The school is an “L” shape on the front and the side, and there are flower beds that are right up against the school on both sides that face the street. From what I gather, the township mows the lawn and does any major tree problems but has limited responsibility for upkeep around the school.”
   On April 25, 2010, the gang was joined by Ms. Briegs’ fifth-grade daughter, Brynne, and her Girl Scout troop, Troop 261, for the first official spring cleanup. The kids and their families weeded, prepared flower beds, hauled away 23 contractor-size garbage bags of debris from over 3,500 square feet of garden beds and planted over 70 perennials including salvia, catmint, obedient plants and daylilies in cold and rainy conditions.
   Then, on Oct. 17, the Boy Scouts and Ms. Briegs teamed up again for the fall cleanup. They trimmed bushes, weeded and raked flower beds and planted 44 pots of mums. Almost 50 volunteers of all ages worked on the warm and sunny morning.
   However, that would not be the only get-together last autumn. In dire need of supplies, Ms. Briegs sent out an e-mail and was rewarded with the generosity of Joe LaJeunesse, owner of Right Touch Landscaping.
   ”Because we needed the mulch donated — I knew I couldn’t afford to buy it — I put out an e-mail to all the landscapers in Hillsborough and he responded,” she said. “He responded that he has done this at a couple of the other schools where he has helped out with things. It was really great. It was huge for us.”
   Mr. LaJeunesse arranged for the Beautification Committee to receive a donation of 35 cubic yards of mulch — about 14 pickup trucks’ worth — and sent about seven of his workers to help spread it.
   ”I’ve been fortunate in my business to have had great support from the community and I wanted to return the favor,” Mr. LaJeunesse said in a press release. “I am very involved in the town and have had the opportunity to work with a number of the local schools on similar projects, as well as helping a group of Boy Scouts with their Eagle Scout project to build a patio at the Ann Van Middlesworth Park. When Karen reached out — I knew I could help.”
   Although the date for the next spring cleanup is not set yet, the team is excited for what’s to come.
   ”It’s really exciting because this will be the first full year since we did the major planting that hadn’t been done in a long time,” Ms. Briegs said. “We’re really eager to see what comes up again and how big it gets, and then we’ll fill in with more of the same perennials.
   In addition to Scout leader Rob Elliott, the Scouts and their families who have helped throughout the project are Joey Meditz, Christian Cutts, Gregory, Christopher and Nicholas Koll, Michael and TJ Harkins, Conor McLoughlin, Ryan and Evan Centofanti, Joshua Norbut, Jacob Miller, Nicholas Housel, Ryan Vecchio, Kyle Toland, MJ Baker, Ben Elliott, Connor Denning, William Gillette, Brendan O’Kane, Alec Crouthamel, Shreyas Murali, Ryan Bochinski, Nick Tripod, Nick Angelo, Brian Flynn, Danish Plaha, Jessica Bilder, Brynne Briegs, Emily Everett, Gabriella Valdivia and Julie Lashen.