Editor,

On Saturday, June 21, from 8 a.m. until about 2 p.m., 27 generous people converged on the gardens in front of the Island County Museum.

Their only pay was the promise of a barbecue hot-dog lunch — and the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of their labor: a beautiful showpiece of a garden, freshly weeded, clipped, raked and mulched for all to admire.

While it might be too cumbersome to list all of their names, they indeed all know whom they are, and they all now know one another.

My hat’s off to them, and I offer my sincerest gratitude for all their hard work. We even met some new friends who came all the way from Bremerton to join the fun. They kept commenting on what a wonderful community we have. I could not agree more.

Special thanks are in order to Vickie Chambers and Janet Burchfield of the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association for their help and encouragement in coordinating this very successful work party. They saw a need, and they acted on it.

Congratulations, and thank you for making a difference.

Rick Castellano

Coupeville