Over the past few days you might have noticed something going on around The Neighborhood House. You might have even smelled it... but more on that later.

Thanks to hard packed and nutrient depleted soil, the lawn surrounding The Neighborhood House has been less than ideal. With an ever growing slate of programs and activities, landscaping upgrades, however, were understandably placed on the back burner. That all changed last year when one of our terrific Board members contacted the crew from Williams Irrigation Systems in Ellsworth, who generously donated and installed an irrigation system.

Earlier this month, thanks to some generous grant funding, the next stage of the project kicked off as A.C. Parsons hit the ground and quickly ripped up all of the old grass/weed combination. Step # 2 (no pun intended) of this process was a healthy layer of manure and other nutrients to enrich the soil. Luckily the odor quickly dissipated.

Finally, on Monday a truck full of sod arrived from Brunswick, Maine, and the A.C. Parsons gang made quick work covering the newly enriched soil with bright green grass. It certainly is nice to finally have an "outside" that is bright and lively enough to fully reflect all the amazing things that happen "inside." We're looking forward to having summer campers enjoy picnic lunches on the new surface, and of course, hundreds of bikes gathering on it for the 18th annual Bike Parade this August.