MONROE — To help Pleasant View Nursing Home residents get some fresh air in a safe way, members suggested in May to the Friend of Pleasant View group that a garden path may be a great addition to facility grounds.
Pleasant View Administrator Terry Snow said this idea was met with agreement and the project was completed in late August.
The suggestion emphasized that a path would allow residents to be outdoors on a scenic walk, traveling a straight sidewalk to the Green County Veterans Memorial Park, Snow said. Planners acknowledged that some residents would be able to navigate it easily while others may have more of a challenge with the incline. Despite limitations for some, those in favor wanted to see it in place.
The location was easy to plot. The backyard garden, often used by visitors, staff and residents to enjoy the outdoors consisted of a large, grassy area.
That space was used to make the path. A goal of putting the garden path in place was to allow residents space outside with fewer dangers than walking along the parking lot or in other areas currently under construction.
Paving of the garden path began Aug. 22 and was completed in two days by workers from the Green County Highway Department. In an ongoing project to ensure safety, Snow indicated that Pleasant View maintenance staff planned to level the grass edges with dirt. Wheelchair accessible and already in the popular grassy area surrounding the garden, residents quickly made use of it, walking along with friends or visitors.
The path is one of many projects put on by the Friends of Pleasant View since the group’s formation five years ago. It consists of seven members who serve on a board of directors. The group is comprised of Pleasant View residents’ family members, residents of the facility and community members who support the nursing home.
Pleasant View was able to raise money for the path through donations totaling $9,000 from over 70 donors and the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, which provided a matching grant of $2,500.
Along with the path, Friends of Pleasant View has purchased iPads for residents and expanded the back garden in the past as well as many other projects. Residents, family and staff are able to suggest projects to be considered by the Friends of Pleasant View Board, which then votes on them.
The new garden path will be celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony on a date yet to be determined.
