Our August Update

We're especially excited to share this month's update because we've officially unveiled the Margaret "Midge" Thomas Community Garden... just in time for her 99th birthday.

This raised garden at the corner of Clinton and Pleasant was truly a labor of love, built to honor Midge's legacy of service to the Rochester community.

The garden also represents the beginning of a transformation at St. Joseph's Park, a challenging section of downtown that holds incredible potential for rebirth and activation.

The Midge Thomas Community Garden

🌻 We want to thank everyone who contributed towards this garden, which we will lovingly care for in the years to come. This will include adding bulbs later this Fall to ensure a wave of Spring flowers!

Special thanks to The Garden Factory, which donated dozens of perennials, and to the City of Rochester's Department of Environmental Services for providing support and supplies along the way.

Finally, we are truly overwhelmed by the generosity of Kevin Dennis and Renee Tando from KD The Boulder Company who donated the installation of the dramatic boulder border and commissioned the beautiful engraved monument!

Midge at the ribbon cutting

Ok, so what projects are we working on next?

Well, there are quite a few actually. But next on the list is a collaboration with RTS to landscape the South Ave entrance to the downtown Transit Center. The goal is to create a more welcoming experience for riders by "softening the edges" and improving the aesthetic of the outside plaza.

Another upcoming project will be swapping out many of our summer plantings for mums. We're grateful to have some funds still available to effectively extend the season by an additional couple of months 😎

We restored two more benches in August

We're also cooking up something cool with The Local Sound Collaborative and RocGrowth, which we'll be announcing shortly. Suffice it to say, you should leave Saturday, Oct. 4 free on your calendar 🎺

Oh, and did I mention we're working on commissioning our first mural?

3-month time lapse on Lawn Street!

Our efforts to clean, beautify and activate downtown Rochester are volunteer-driven. Which is why we are so grateful for everyone who has chipped in to help this summer... from picking up litter to helping plant flowers (and everything in between).

What we continue to discover is how much our entire community cares about downtown.

So we're going to keep scaling up our efforts, and we invite you to participate in any way you can. Just drop us a line if you have an idea or want to get involved.

Thank you to Sam Gottfried and Angel Vazquez

One last thing...

We interact daily with the people on the streets (and in the parks) of downtown Rochester. This has shed light on the many issues and challenges facing some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Our approach is to engage with these individuals, which often entails providing information that might help them improve their circumstances. This includes referring some people to shelters or social service resources.

This outreach also includes encouraging and challenging some folks to play an active role in maintaining the cleanliness of our public places. We have seen real progress on this front in places like St. Joseph's Park, where the installation of the garden has coincided with a noticeable reduction of litter and disruptive behavior.

To a strong and healthy city,

- Mike and Tina Gilbert

P.P.S. We're grateful to George Cassidy Payne for writing this very nice article about us 🙏

Please consider becoming a Downtown ROCstar by supporting our efforts with a tax-deductible gift. Every dollar is invested directly into placemaking projects that enhance our center city.

Our July Update | Our June Update | Our May Update | Our April Update