Ground Cover September 2013 | Page 3

Remembering Volunteer Gary Vogel He was the only male member of the Green Team. He called us “you ladies” and liked to convey the impression that we needed to tell him what to do. “Whatever you ladies want,” he would say meekly, as though totally at the mercy of our whims. his own plants at home. In the fall he dug up geraniums and bulbs and put them in storage for winter. Gary could fix anything that needed fixing, and that included wielding a paintbrush when called for. He maintained the greenhouses and understood their delicate temperaments. He was fearless on the precarious catwalk of the big greenhouse; perhaps his 40 years of experience as an elevator repairman helped? The opposite was closer to the truth. • What to do about mildew on the dahlias? Ask Gary. • Is it time to plant the geraniums? Check with Gary. • Golf cart stuck in the mud? Call for Gary! Gary had a solution for all pests, be they whiteflies in the greenhouse, moles in the flowerbeds, or coons in the bird feeders. He anticipated the tasks that needed to be done and completed many of them behind the scenes when nobody else was around. Coming to work on a snowy February morning, we would find the walkway to the greenhouse already shoveled for us. If we vowed to finally tackle our humongous pile of dirty flowerpots, we’d arrive the next workday to a mountain of freshly washed pots drying on the table. Gary Vogel died on July 1. He had volunteered for the DABG for about 20 years, the last 15 or so working primarily with the Green Team, although his considerable skills were sometimes called into play for the Brown Team as well. In addition, he was a member of the Operations Board and helped with special events on the grounds. Working with a gaggle of Green Team women had to be trying at times. But Gary met all situations with a big grin. Even though Gary was ill last winter, his truck still pulled into the parking lot most Tuesdays and Thursdays, the traditional Green Team workdays. He didn’t stay long and was a little slower than usual. But that didn’t stop him from climbing a high ladder or pushing around a heavy tub of soil whenever our backs were turned. Over the winter he sterilized our potting soil, helped upgrade the seedlings in the greenhouse, and kept the growing plants watered, fertilized, and pest-free. In the spring he set up the Peter Rabbit and Billy Goat gardens and tirelessly roto-tilled all of the other beds before they were planted. Gary could get more leaf mulch on the end of a pitchfork than three other Green Team members combined, and he cheerfully delivered load after load wherever it was needed. The Green Team is donating a brick for one of the DABG paths in memory of Gary Vogel. But that hardly seems enough. The real memorial is this: Not a Tuesday or Thursday goes by that a situation doesn’t crop up causing “we ladies” to wonder what Gary would do. In his “spare time” over the summer, Gary weeded, watered, and grew tomatoes, pumpkins, and other vegetables outside the McAleece building. This was in addition to taking care of Submitted by Kennie Harris, with thanks to the Green Team for their memories 3