EVERETT — The green plants have barely sprouted above their handmade wooden planters on the rooftop of the Everett Family YMCA.
Eight planter boxes each filled with 2,000 pounds of dirt and gravel frame the four corners of the roof. One larger box sits in the middle. A view of the city from six stories up is available to runners and walkers who use the rooftop track.
Since there is no elevator at the YMCA, roof access and the view is only available to those who include 85 stairs as part of their workout.
Boy Scout Cameron Grossaint of Mill Creek knows this fact well.
In July, he and a team of volunteers repeatedly made the climb up while hauling buckets of dirt and gravel to build a rooftop garden.
A graduate of Henry M. Jackson High School, Grossaint, 18, volunteered to build the garden as his Eagle Scout service project. He planned the project, designed the planters and asked for donations of materials. He ran his design by staff and made sure the YMCA roof could hold the weight of the planters.
Then he organized other volunteers from Everett Troop 114, his friends and family members to help construct the boxes and haul 2 cubic yards of gravel and 12 cubic yards of dirt up to the roof. Together they formed an assembly line and spent four of the hottest days in July hauling bucket after 5-gallon bucket of gravel and soil up and onto the roof.
The work was difficult, especially during a heat wave, Grossaint said.
“I was very tired,” he said. “I went home, slept and I think that’s all I did during that time.”
Grossaint encountered several obstacles in addition to finding a way to transport supplies without an elevator, his troop leader Mike Wynn said. People who would otherwise be available to help were on vacation at the time and he had difficulty securing donations.
“A lot of Scouts are having problems finding donations in this economy to complete their Eagle Scout projects,” he said. “He chose a project like no one had done before. … He did a great job of overcoming a lot of issues.”
The winter crop of kale, broccoli, Swiss chard and various herbs was planted by a small group of YMCA members in late September, said Callie Provazek, who works at the YMCA. In the spring time, Provazek expects the Community Garden group will grow along with a few new plants and even a new tree.
“There’s not a lot to check on right now,” she said. “It’s raining so we don’t need to water them but in spring we’ll need more maintenance like weeding.”
Staff envision a rooftop arboretum, she said, with benches and possible paths that won’t get in the way of runners who use the roof running track or exercise classes that sometimes meet on the roof when the weather is nice.
Exactly what grows in the rooftop garden and how it’s shared will be up to members of the garden group, she said.
“We’re trying to actually make it a community effort,” Provazek said. “We want to make (the garden) what the members want it to be.”
Grossaint’s father, Matt Grossaint, was part of the team that helped build the garden. He plans to visit the garden again when Grossaint returns home from Saint Martin’s University in Lacey for Thanksgiving.
“I’m looking forward to when Cameron comes down and we can take a look at the garden,” he said.
Grossaint has been involved in Boy Scouts for the past 11 years and said he intends to stay involved with Troop 114 by becoming an assistant Scoutmaster.
He expects to receive word that he has officially earned his Eagle Scout award later this month.
“It feels good,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.”
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.
Get involved
To join the Everett Family YMCA Community Garden Club or to donate garden supplies, contact Callie Provazek at 425-258-9211 or cprovazek@ymca-snoco.org.
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