Maintaining the Garden
Every year after the winter thaw we see the effects on Kosciuszko’s Garden. This year’s winter at West Point was especially long and difficult and there is lots to be done to prepare the Garden for the many spring events coming up. For the third year in a row a bolt has fallen off the brass plaque in the garden; every year it’s a different bolt. You can see that we have one to go and I anticipate it will fall off next year. They have been secure for the many years since the plaque was originally placed in the Garden, but they are all failing at approximately the same time.
There is a particular process that has to be followed to have the bolts replaced and eventually a new, beautifully crafted brass bolt will show up in the Garden. I keep a running tally of the tasks to be completed in the Garden and submit them to various departments on a regular basis. Often I am impatient to have the tasks done promptly which isn’t possible in a post as large, historic and complex as West Point. Every year the fountain needs to be cleaned and turned on, the grout in the stairs fixed, large trees trimmed and many other tasks which the Garrison team has to complete. This all happens at the same time that there is great effort being made by this same group of people to prepare West Point for graduation.
This year the tasks are even more difficult to complete because of the drastic cuts in personnel and budgets that the Army is undergoing under sequestration. Perhaps the general public thinks in terms of these cuts as pertaining only to large initiatives like weapons programs, but the effects are profound right down to the smallest bolt in the Garden. Other “small” programs at West Point that have been cut include things like support programs for families of deployed soldiers and the number of days the library is open, for example.
This is as much a cycle as the cycle of the seasons in the Garden. The Military builds up during times of war and shrinks significantly during times of peace. The care of the Garden is subject to this same cycle as money ebbs and flows. Volunteers will work even harder this year to maintain Kosciuszko’s Garden and it will survive as it has for over 230 years. It will also continue to provide lessons in patience, acceptance and peace.
Monday, April 14, 2014