In an effort to beautify Main Street, the Garden Club and Moorestown Business Association teamed up for the annual planting on May 31.
Five members of the community came out for the plating, including Don Powell, vice president of the MBA, and his wife Janet, along with two professional landscapers and Gina Zegel, former president of the Garden Club.
“We are trying to get downtown in shape,” Powell said. “The appearance of Main Street benefits the businesses in downtown, so we decided to bring in some professional landscapers to get the job done right.”
There were 100 perennial flowers planted on both sides of Main Street from Church Street to Chester Avenue. The volunteers also spread 10 yards of mulch donated by the township in the flowerbeds.
While these efforts were directed at preparing for Moorestown Day on June 7, Powell and Zegel have a broader vision for the future.
“The hope is that the residents and businesses along Main Street will keep up with the plants and flowers,” Zegel said. “It is in everyone’s best interest for Main Street to look presentable, and the entire town will benefit from it.”
In the past, residents have come out to keep up with the plants, watering them and weeding the flowerbeds. But Powell understands the township cannot keep counting on residents to take the initiative.
“The mission of the MBA is to draw people in,” Powell said. “Keeping up with the appearance of Main Street makes shopping and dining in downtown more pleasant, which keeps people coming. Hopefully, with the help of the businesses, we can keep Main Street looking beautiful.”
Initiatives are in the works to make sure this happens. The Garden Club and MBA are discussing an adopt-a-plot program that would allow businesses and residents the chance to adopt a flowerbed. The “owner” would then be responsible for keeping up with the flowerbed and would get a sign with their name on it hanging above the plot.
“We are tossing around ideas that we think will get the shop owners and residents excited about the appearance of Main Street,” Powell said. “Whether it’s competitions, planting events or ownership, all we want is for Main Street to look good all year round.”
“If the residents of Moorestown continue to buy local, more businesses will open,” Zegel said. “The only way to keep people buying local is to make Main Street a place where people want to be, and that starts with the way it looks.”
And while the annual planting may be over, there is still more to do.
“We’re getting right back out there on June 4 to hang flower baskets on the lamp poles on Main Street,” Zegel said. “The MBA and businesses have both chipped in to pay for the baskets, and we appreciate all the support we have gotten so far.”
