The return of Smokey the Bear to his rightful place at the Grantham Fire Station marks the completion of a beautification project spearheaded by active Grantham Garden Club member Maryellen DeJong in 2024. Today is Smokey the Bear’s official birthday so is the perfect time to write this good news story.
The large, wooden communication sign outside the Grantham Fire Station was built in 2015 by Grantham resident Luc Gauvin as his Eagle Scout project. (This post is an opportunity to recognize Luc Gauvin’s project and how much that little piece of land is still so cared for.) Along with space to announce community events/alerts, it held a large metal replica of Smokey the Bear. A rock wall circled the sign and held soil for plantings.
At that time it was not part of the Grantham Garden Club’s civic garden project. Attempts had been made by Amelia Lantz and Maryellen DeJong in 2023 to put in various plantings without much success. Flowers had been planted in the rock wall that encircled the sign but the soil didn’t hold water and a soil test showed it needed lots of work. The GGC’s 25th anniversary was coming up and that gave Maryellen an idea – to rejuvenate the garden as a gift to the town as part of the club’s celebration activities.
Maryellen formally enlisted Amelia, who agreed to be her silent partner, along with Jeanne Raymond to help with plant selections. Jeanne also identified her husband, John, as the person who could rebuild the rock wall. Maryellen then generated a proposal which she presented to the club’s steering committee and they readily agreed to support. In February 2024, she sent the proposal to Fire Chief Justin Hastings*, who then invited her to present it at the next fire station meeting. At that meeting, they were wholeheartedly in favor of the plans for the garden; however, they explained the structure was not stable and unsafe for club volunteers to work around. They took on the responsibility to take down the existing sign and reinstall it so Maryellen would need to wait until the sign was stabilized. When they took down the sign, Smokey was removed until a new, shinier version could be added.
In the summer of 2025, the sign had been reinstalled (still lacking Smokey) and the garden design needed some adjusting since the rock wall had been removed. Jane Deane Clark suggested creating two small gardens, one on the eastside and one on the westside of the sign. Voila! The pieces were falling into place.
Amelia and Jim Lantz donated the 40 bricks necessary to create the two beds, Maryellen ordered flowers through the club’s annual and perennial plant sales, and Maryellen and her husband Len carved out the gardens and laid out weed barrier and six bags of mulch under the sign. Maryellen and Amelia, laid out the bricks, added soil to the plots and planted the annuals and perennials. Maryellen started multi-colored Echinacea (coneflowers) from seed that you now see in the gardens that are covered with bees and butterflies.
The project was officially completed when Smokey reappeared this summer. To bring things back around to the Boy Scouts of America, a Boy Scout and Grantham resident completed his community service badge this spring by planting all of the vibrant red petunias in the two gardens.
And, now that the two gardens are well established, the Fire Station sign gardens are now a permanent GGC civic garden project, along with the others the club cares for at the library, post office, town hall and triangle garden.
Smokey himself has a very interesting history. During World War II, there were limited numbers of firefighters, so a campaign was begun to encourage people to help prevent forest wildfires. Smokey was named after a heroic New York City firefighter named Joseph “Smokey Joe” Martin. In 1952 children could write to Smokey to receive a Junior Ranger kit complete with a badge with Smokey’s face embossed on it. Over 5,000 kids became junior rangers. His inflated image has been a regular in the Macy’s Day Parade. He's all-over social media and has multiple web pages and an Instagram and YouTube presence. Similar Smokey’s can be seen in front of fire stations all over the country. I’m happy that our Smokey is back in Grantham.
Happy 82nd birthday, Smokey! And thank you, Maryellen, and everyone who pitched to beautify the fire station. It’s a great way of saying ‘thank you’ to the town and to all the volunteers who make up the Grantham Fire Department.
*Chief Hastings has retired. Welcome Chief David Beckley.
The large, wooden communication sign outside the Grantham Fire Station was built in 2015 by Grantham resident Luc Gauvin as his Eagle Scout project. (This post is an opportunity to recognize Luc Gauvin’s project and how much that little piece of land is still so cared for.) Along with space to announce community events/alerts, it held a large metal replica of Smokey the Bear. A rock wall circled the sign and held soil for plantings.
At that time it was not part of the Grantham Garden Club’s civic garden project. Attempts had been made by Amelia Lantz and Maryellen DeJong in 2023 to put in various plantings without much success. Flowers had been planted in the rock wall that encircled the sign but the soil didn’t hold water and a soil test showed it needed lots of work. The GGC’s 25th anniversary was coming up and that gave Maryellen an idea – to rejuvenate the garden as a gift to the town as part of the club’s celebration activities.
Maryellen formally enlisted Amelia, who agreed to be her silent partner, along with Jeanne Raymond to help with plant selections. Jeanne also identified her husband, John, as the person who could rebuild the rock wall. Maryellen then generated a proposal which she presented to the club’s steering committee and they readily agreed to support. In February 2024, she sent the proposal to Fire Chief Justin Hastings*, who then invited her to present it at the next fire station meeting. At that meeting, they were wholeheartedly in favor of the plans for the garden; however, they explained the structure was not stable and unsafe for club volunteers to work around. They took on the responsibility to take down the existing sign and reinstall it so Maryellen would need to wait until the sign was stabilized. When they took down the sign, Smokey was removed until a new, shinier version could be added.
In the summer of 2025, the sign had been reinstalled (still lacking Smokey) and the garden design needed some adjusting since the rock wall had been removed. Jane Deane Clark suggested creating two small gardens, one on the eastside and one on the westside of the sign. Voila! The pieces were falling into place.
Amelia and Jim Lantz donated the 40 bricks necessary to create the two beds, Maryellen ordered flowers through the club’s annual and perennial plant sales, and Maryellen and her husband Len carved out the gardens and laid out weed barrier and six bags of mulch under the sign. Maryellen and Amelia, laid out the bricks, added soil to the plots and planted the annuals and perennials. Maryellen started multi-colored Echinacea (coneflowers) from seed that you now see in the gardens that are covered with bees and butterflies.
The project was officially completed when Smokey reappeared this summer. To bring things back around to the Boy Scouts of America, a Boy Scout and Grantham resident completed his community service badge this spring by planting all of the vibrant red petunias in the two gardens.
And, now that the two gardens are well established, the Fire Station sign gardens are now a permanent GGC civic garden project, along with the others the club cares for at the library, post office, town hall and triangle garden.
Smokey himself has a very interesting history. During World War II, there were limited numbers of firefighters, so a campaign was begun to encourage people to help prevent forest wildfires. Smokey was named after a heroic New York City firefighter named Joseph “Smokey Joe” Martin. In 1952 children could write to Smokey to receive a Junior Ranger kit complete with a badge with Smokey’s face embossed on it. Over 5,000 kids became junior rangers. His inflated image has been a regular in the Macy’s Day Parade. He's all-over social media and has multiple web pages and an Instagram and YouTube presence. Similar Smokey’s can be seen in front of fire stations all over the country. I’m happy that our Smokey is back in Grantham.
Happy 82nd birthday, Smokey! And thank you, Maryellen, and everyone who pitched to beautify the fire station. It’s a great way of saying ‘thank you’ to the town and to all the volunteers who make up the Grantham Fire Department.
*Chief Hastings has retired. Welcome Chief David Beckley.
Maryellen DeJong and Chief Hastings
Maryellen and the old Smokey
Waiting for flowers
Tulips and hyacinth in the spring
Maryellen and Amelia working their magic
Maryellen can frequently be seen working on the gardens
The completed project