A helping hand: Reynoldsburg residents step up

(by Rachel Scofield, staff writer - June 11, 2009)

Until Parkinson’s disease robbed Ferne Warrenburg of the ability to control her legs, the Ives Avenue widow took great pride in maintaining her yard.

“Would you believe that seven years ago I won a landscaping award?” Warrenburg said.
In recent years, weeds invaded the flower beds where geraniums once grew and bushes obscured the house.

The fruit trees, which her son Scott planted, fell into poor health after his sudden death in 1999 left nobody to care for them.

Warrenburg expects apples this year, but there were no blossoms on the neglected pear tree.

“People in Reynoldsburg take such pride in their homes and I feel I have let them down,” Warrenburg said. “It’s difficult when you live on a fixed income. I have outlived my pension. If I had a few pennies I could hire a kid to pull weeds.”

Reynoldsburg’s Chief Building Official Chet Hopper understood Warrenburg’s plight.

“Not everyone can take care of their properties, yet codes must be enforced,” Hopper said.

As part of the Reynoldsburg Clean-Up week earlier this month, Hopper organized city employees, community volunteers and members of the Reynoldsburg Methodist Church to assist 15 homeowners who have disabilities with their yard work.

Warrenburg was told the workers would trim her trees and clear the gutters, but “whatever they do I will be very thankful.”

Hopper, along with Mark Waite, also trimmed the shrubbery and mulched the flower beds. Waite, a Reynoldsburg resident, answered an advertisement for clean-up volunteers.

“I thought it would be nice to lend a hand,” Waite said. “It is a good way to get out in the community and make connections with people through a couple hours of useful work.”

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