The Petal Welcomes You sign located on the Evelyn Gandy Parkway has recently gone green as members from across the community pitched in with helping hands.
Nadine Coleman, conservation chair for the Cosmopolitan Club, got the ball rolling as part of a club project.
Feeling that the sign looked a bit desolate and stark sitting on the side of the Gandy, she enlisted the help of the entire community and then some.
While the club is involved in a variety of projects, keeping the city in the green is one of the club’s favorites. The club also maintains the garden triangle at the intersection of Main Street and Central Avenue, which currently is decorated for spring. Soon, there will be Easter bunnies.
According to Coleman, the Mississippi Department of Transportation helped get the permit process taken care of, which was followed by the city’s street department, who came out and helped remove the grass from around the existing Welcome to Petal sign.
Then Fairley Construction brought out topsoil to fill in the flowerbeds, which were constructed around the sign.
“We had some big piles of dirt, so it required the help of a lot of people to get it moved,” Coleman said.
One such group was a few members of the 177th Armored Brigade from Camp Shelby.
“We have several soldiers who volunteer in Petal,” said Sgt. Roger Houghton, 177th Public Affairs officer. “Several joined Petal’s volunteer-led effort to beautify the town’s welcome sign. “It was great initiative and hard work.”
Ricky Adams at Adams Nursery helped come up with the design for the planting, all which were chosen to be quite hardy for South Mississippi temperatures.
Cosmopolitan Club members, along with Petal Area Chamber of Commerce volunteers, and firefighters with the Petal Fire Department also contributed to the cause.
Always a big fan of Petal, Lowe’s donating landscaping stones for the border while the Petal Rotary Club purchased the trees behind the sign.
“They’ll look really pretty once they get grown,” said Coleman, of the magnolia trees.
Coleman said the city also helped purchase plants and the club furnished mulch, fertilizer and other needed items.
“We just received so much support from everybody,” Coleman said. “It cost a lot, but through organizations we were able to make it happen.
“Fire Department Chief Joe Hendry has volunteered to go down and water a little for us until the plants take hold.If we can get through this first year we ought to be OK, unless there’s a drought.”
The Forrest County Master Gardeners, of which former Petal Mayor Jack Gay is a member, has committed to taking care of the site as one of their projects.
“They know what they are doing,” Coleman said.
The club also makes sure the sign is properly dressed for the Christmas holidays.
