A key part of being a successful community group is actually being out in the community. COSS is not a group that sits in an office. Our board and members are out at Scout events, public events, in open spaces, at farmers markets, and everywhere people gather. As a whole, we are a very engaged and very visible group.
Last weekend I was at the farmers market at Weston Nursery, and a bunch of people stopped to talk. Some had concerns about town issues, others just wanted to share stories. One person told me a great story about a possible ambush by a Native American group in early colonial times. They had found some musket balls and believed they were related. That was a new one for me and something I now want to look into.
I also spent some time speaking with Jamie at Cooking Buckets about how we can support his first syrup run at Sunny Meadow. That is another exciting project happening right here in town. On the way out Jim from Weston stopped to chat and asked if I knew anyone who needed some native plants because they had extra stock. That was when the bells started ringing. Free native plants for a town pollinator garden is something you do not hear every day.
A few ideas came to mind. Sunny Meadow already grows almost everything from seed or through swaps, so they are all set. Koulas Farm is a nice idea, but the garden there is not ready yet. But last week the group working on the new pollinator garden at Thanksgiving asked if they could talk before the walk. The garden is thriving, and we helped with some of the original work, and they are looking for more community support.
So why not connect them with Weston Nursery? They have plants, and the garden team needs plants. This kind of donation is newsworthy and could bring more attention and maybe more volunteers and support. A lot of what COSS does is simply connecting groups to groups and finding solutions. Most of it is informal and below the radar, but it makes a real difference.
The next step is that Jim is putting together a list of what they have. The pollinator garden team will see what they can use. If they need help moving the plants, I am happy to load up my truck and pitch in.
So if you see a COSS member out in town, stop and say hello. Tell us about issues, ideas, history, or news. You never know when a simple conversation can lead to a local company donating plants to a pollinator garden.