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In this garden, the tenders can put down roots Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Myreon Scobie, 18, tends roses in a garden at the Jackson County Expo Park, where young people learn about more than flowers. By DANI DODGE CENTRAL POINT - Myreon Scobie's thick fingers gently grasp withered rose blossoms before he lops off the dying flowers with shears. It's called dead-heading, a skill the 18-year-old has perfected since he began working in this plush garden at the Jackson County Expo Park in 1998. "It's so more flowers will blossom," the 18-year-old explains without shifting his focus from the plants. Scobie is one of dozens of teens each year that tend the garden at the fairgrounds. Hidden behind the horse barns and hay bales, it's a quarter-acre plot where volunteers Sandi Richardson and her husband Dan nurture a parade of troubled and disabled young people until they blossom as brilliantly and as lushly as the fruit and flowers. Scobie is one of those who has taken what he's learned amid the corn, carnations, and corkscrew willows and applied it to the world around him. When he first arrived at the garden, it was through a Job Council youth program. The eighth-grader was behind in school and things were tough at home, where his dad suffers from multiple sclerosis and his mother from chronic pain. He was put to work weeding the flower beds. "When Myreon first started here you couldn't get a word out of him - he was scared of everyone," said Chris Borovansky, director of the Jackson County Fairgrounds and Expo Park. At one point, Scobie - who was helping take care of his father until he went into a rest home - got so behind at school, he nearly dropped out. But now, he's one of Borovansky's employees, working part-time maintaining the garden and teaching disabled and disadvantaged young people how to care for the plants. Scobie's teachers at Crossroads alternative school in Medford say he's become an excellent student. With his progress, he should soon be on the honor roll, Davis said. "He's what teachers aspire to for all their students," said teacher Hans Davis. "His attendance is awesome and when he does something he puts everything into it. "He's a very good student who works very hard." Davis said he can see how Scobie's experiences and successes in the Expo garden have translated into excellence in school. "Gardening is not an easy thing," Davis said. "He's learned a trade that requires patience, strength and understanding." The mentor behind that growth has been Richardson, 50, of Central Point. A counselor, gift store owner and emergency room worker at Providence Medford Medical Center, Richardson has been at the center of the Expo garden project - orchestrating the complex dance of students and flowers and interactions. It began in 1995 when Richardson approached the county about a plot of land that her 4-H Club could garden. They were offered the area behind the horse barns, a piece of dirt with weeds that were waist high, according to Richardson's daughter, Amanda Richardson who was a member of the club. Richardson ponied up nearly $3,000 of her own money for plants, enlisted the help of the county's inmate work crews to do the heavy work, the club to do the planting and the garden was born. She hasn't stopped since. "She's busy all the time. She's awesome. She's a rock star," said Amanda, 20. "She's dedicated to this garden like it was one of her children." As she has nurtured the plants, so also has she helped many children. Disadvantaged or disabled, kids have been referred from school programs, the Job Council, Community Works or the juvenile justice system to the garden. Some earned community service hours, others earned missing school credits and still others made money for their efforts. They all grew an appreciation for soil and plants and trees. "It's literally a labor of love for Sandy," Borovansky said. "As much as she loves the garden she likes working with the kids more." "She's so passionate about the kids and the project, it's a perfect fit." As a Job Council crew boss, Sylvia Blenkush supervised a handful of students who worked in the garden this summer. Their disabilities ranged from autism to being emotionally disturbed. "Their growth was huge, " said Blenkush, who works as a special educational assistant during the school year. She said they learned responsibility from dealing with a paycheck as well as basics of caring for plants. Blenkush said Scobie was instrumental in showing the students how to do many of the tasks, and she was impressed with how he dealt patiently with severely disabled children. She also said she was impressed with how Richardson mentored Scobie. "Sandy's great with Myreon," Blenkush said. "I saw lots of growth even from beginning of summer to the end. Sandy tells him what she wants done and he figures out what to do. "He's gained a lot of confidence." For his part, Scobie said when he works with disabled kids and they don't do what he tells them, he just takes a big breath and then tells them again, showing them at the same time. "They eventually get it," he said. Richardson said it is success stories like Scobie's that compel her to continue to go to the garden day after day. "If they don't have someone willing to help them along, how will they learn what is expected of them in life?" Richardson asked. "If a boy or a girl learns to make the right choices, that's one less kid in the system and maybe there will be a time when they will give back to someone else." And after all these years, some of the financial burden of the garden was lifted from her shoulders. Last year, the fairgrounds invested about $3,000 in plants and supplies, Borovansky said. Borovansky explained that helping children is part of the fairground's mission. "It affects about 36 kids a year," he said. "And it's a beautiful little oasis." Scobie is hoping that the job he's learned to love will lead to full-time employment with a county maintenance crew after he graduates from high school next spring. Although, his education won't stop, he's already planning on taking a community college course on installing automatic sprinkler systems. Scobie said working in the garden has changed his life. "Otherwise, I'd just be pumping gas." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.