An aerial shot shows the flowerbed at the roundabout on Acquoni Road in Cherokee, N.C. (Contributed by EBCI Communications)
By BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C.— EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) has instituted a flowerbed project as part of the Tribal Health Improvement Plan (THIP). There are nine tribal programs and groups participating in the project. Throughout the month of November, the One Feather will feature each of those groups and their flowerbeds. This article features the flowerbed at Whitewater Landing created by the Welch family, and the flowerbed at the roundabout created by the THIP team and EBCI Communications.
The Welch Family
Macie Welch said her family’s flowerbed was made in memory of her granny, Rose Welch, who owned the campground that used to sit at what is now Whitewater Landing. “I thought this might be a cool thing to help bring our family together and to honor our Granny Rose…Our family is full of gardeners, so nobody even batted an eye. Everybody just grabbed a shovel and got to work. Everybody showed up with truck beds of plants and stuff. It was just cool to see my family all hands in.”
Welch said the project is a good step toward getting the community involved in beautification, “In New York, they’re using artists to fix roadways and concrete. Even in the subway stations, artists are just making little concrete art and fixing things. So, I feel like we can kind of take initiative as a community, and I like that Sky [Sampson] is kind of already doing that with this. I hope it just leads to more. The community could get more involved and help make our town better.”
The Welch Family flowerbeds at Whitewater Landing. The two larger scarecrows (photo below) represent Ken and Rose Welch, and the four smaller scarecrows represent their four children. (BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT/One Feather photos)
THIP/EBCI Communications
Kristy Maney Herron, creative resources administrator for EBCI Communications, had a vision for the roundabout on Acquoni Road. “I wanted to put the seven-pointed star there…I had Casey [Davis], our graphic designer, create a mock-up. It was kind of like [THIP and Communications] ideas combined because [THIP] had the idea of just doing natural plants that were more natural to our area. We used their plant idea and the seven-pointed star pattern. Then we had the idea of getting some rocks and painting them white, so they kind of stood out, and then we did the little pottery designs with the painted rocks.”
Herron shared that the project was a learning experience for her. “This has been a fun experience, and it’s helped me learn more about planting and how to do things right and get all the weeds out. It kind of inspired me to maybe do my own flowerbed at home, we’ll see. I’ve learned a lot from Sky [Sampson]. She’s really knowledgeable and she’s really helped us out a lot.”
