A new 100-gallon tank carried on one of the City’s Gators will replace the larger, truck-mounted one that cracked last year following the breakdown in July of the watering truck itself. The smaller and more maneuverable Gator will allow workers to reach all or most baskets, access to which has sometimes been blocked by parked cars.

Revitalize Dunkirk’s Beautification Committee Chair Mary Rees notes that downtown visitors will see some new color and species combinations this year. “Each year we aim to improve the baskets’ appearance based on which plants thrived best, failed, or were too vigorous and crowded out others. Design choice is also affected by our committee members’ own preferences regarding color and plant combinations, as well as comments or suggestions from donors or other members of the public,” she adds.

Generous repeat donors — many from other WNY communities, and one from as far away as Texas — are the major source of funding for the baskets, as well as the organization’s other civic beautification efforts such as tree planting, new trash and recycle bins for public parks and beaches, and the Adopt-a-Garden program developed in coordination with the city.

Additional money comes from local granting organizations such as the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation and Lake Shore Bank, as well as Revitalize Dunkirk’s annual fund-raising plant sales featuring vigorous flowering perennial divisions from members’ and other gardening friends’ own yards. This year’s plant sale is being planned for Saturday, May 14, with further details to follow.

Below, Patrick Lyons and Ruth Walsh maintain the Janice Slaton Memorial Garden at Main and Sixth streets.

Anyone wishing to contribute to these projects may do so by sending a check made out to Revitalize Dunkirk, Inc., to P.O. Box 107, Dunkirk, NY 14048. Please write “beautification projects” on the memo line.

Revitalize Dunkirk, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to community improvement.

For more information, visit revitalizedunkirk.com, or contact us at revitalizedunkirk@gmail.com.

From left are Judy Hollander, Al Hollander, Chris Pinkoski, Charlie Clark and Patrick Lyons after planting a new raised bed garden.