Nearly six years of work recently came to a head at the Ann Van Middlesworth Park in Hillsborough Township, as the Neshianic Garden Club announced the completion of a specially constructed walkway.
On Thursday, Sept. 1, members of the club said the walkway at the park’s sensory garden completed a long sought-after plan to beautify the area and create a more inviting and handicap-accessible walkway.
“The walkway has been the committee’s vision for more than 20 years,” said Diana Reinhardt, a long-term chair of the Sensory Garden Committee.
In order to complete the work, the group managed to secure a $500 grant from the Hillsborough Affinity FCI Credit Card Program. Officials said the money was used to purchase bricks for the completion of the walkway.
According to the Neshianic Garden Club, plans for the walkway began in the spring of 1992 when the township asked the club to maintain the sensory garden, located just off of Pleasant View Road.
Once tasked with the garden’s upkeep, the club put a brick path for the garden on its wish list.
By October 2010, Boy Scout Pranar Parmar, of Troop 1776, approached the garden club about creating both a pathway and patio in the sensory garden, as part of his Eagle Scout requirement.
Working with Ms. Reinhardt, the Boy Scout designed a 360-square-foot curving path that led to the patio. Two benches were included in the design to provide a resting spot for people to enjoy the garden.
That part of the project was funded in part by the garden club, which donated up to $445 for the remaining supplies. Other supporters included the Shale Brick Company, Hillsborough Parks and Recreations, Paul Thomas from Somerville Well Drilling, Right Touch Landscaping and Troop 1776.
Donated materials for the project came to $4,500.
The Eagle Scout Project began on Oct. 22, 2010. Work was continued until both the walkway and patio were finished and the benches’ legs were cemented.
The following year, Thomas Zobele, also a Boy Scout from Troop 1776, requested a community project involving the sensory garden to attain his Eagle Scout badge, which led to the upgrading of the cinder path entrance and joining a new section of brick walkway to the existing path.
Thomas and his fellow Troop 1776 members worked on the path that July.
The final steps in the process involved sweeping polymeric sand over the brick walkway and spraying it down with water to expand the sand and lock the bricks into place.
Finally, columbine, coral bells, cone flowers, bleeding hearts and wild ageratum were planted.
In 2014 the township added additional bricks to complete a small brick circle in the garden under the direction of John Crossen, the park supervisor.
Having followed the project from the beginning, Ms. Reinhardt praised the hard work of everyone involved over the years, calling its completion a long time coming.
“We are thrilled that it is now completed,” she said.
