As Mary Lind walked and biked along Moline’s Ben Butterworth Parkway in 2004, she noticed the parkway’s original planting beds from the 1980s had become overgrown, and she couldn’t resist stopping to pull weeds and dead-head spent flowers.
“It was when the city was having severe budget cuts and there was no money for the maintenance of these beautiful gardens that had been planted when the parkway was developed in the early 1980s,” Lind said of that time. “There were weeds, so I thought, ‘Well, I can weed.’ ”
The Mississippi riverfront parkway has 17 distinct gardens, though, and Lind quickly realized that with more people, more weeds could be pulled, so she enlisted the help of her book-club friends. Club members adopted a garden and then decided to take their work a step further by planting additional flowers for more color.
In time this pilot project involving one club grew to involve more volunteers — other book clubs, families, couples and businesses — until now every garden on the parkway has been adopted by volunteers and they have a formal relationship with the city through its Keep Moline Beautiful program. Volunteers are called Garden Guardians, and Lind is in charge of overseeing their work.
For these efforts — going for 20 years — Lind will be recognized on Thursday, May 2, with an Eddy Award from River Action Inc. in the category of stewardship.
She will be one of seven receiving awards from the Davenport nonprofit that strives to foster the environmental, economic and cultural vitality of the Mississippi River and its riverfront in the Quad-Cities region. The awards will be part of the group’s 40th anniversary Fish and Fire “friend-raiser and fundraiser” dinner in the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf.
The awards celebrate those who have gone against the current — as in an eddy — to accomplish outstanding work in the categories of education, art, river activity, revitalization and stewardship. In addition, a special recognition award will go to Jeff Nelson for 40 years of leadership as the CEO of MetroLink and his fostering of environmental, safety, economic and community-building activities.
For Lind, her work with Garden Guardians program has been going on for so long that she has it down pat. In early spring she emails volunteers to see if they will be back for another year and, if not, seeks replacements. If groups want to plant new materials, Lind takes their applications, places orders and arranges a day for pick up.
The planting beds originally installed by the city provide a backbone of trees, shrubs, perennial flowers and grasses and some hardscaping such as rocks, Lind said. But additional perennials and annuals add to the beauty of parkway.
In the beginning, volunteers paid for plants out of pocket or transplanted from their own gardens, but for the past five years or so the Garden Guardians has been getting a $3,500 grant from the Moline Regional Community Foundation, Lind said.
Also in the beginning, volunteers had to supply their own water, a task that was challenging at any time, but especially during hot, dry years.
Lind recalls a man from one group who “rigged up a pump, like a stock tank pump, and pumped out of the river” for a time. Now the city waters the beds, usually twice weekly, Lind said. The city also provides mulch that, like water, previously was volunteer-supplied.
“It’s easier to get volunteers if some of the hard work is provided,” Lind said.
At present about 50 people volunteer, and they come from “all over,” not just Moline, Lind said. One group consists of a book club with members from Davenport and Bettendorf. At one time there was a group called “the Out-of-Towners” and another time there was a mom who volunteered because she wanted her children to learn about gardening.
Lind sends encouraging emails throughout the season and in late summer organizes a thank-you party. New groups get T-shirts and gloves.
“Thank you for your leadership,” volunteer Deb Slothower said of Lind in an award nomination submitted by Kristen Bergren, another volunteer. “Your timely messages, advice, plant suggestions and purchases go a long way in keeping us informed and motivated. We couldn’t do it without you!”
The Ben Butterworth Parkway was dedicated on the Moline Mississippi riverfront in 1984 with 1.8 miles of paved trail. It has since grown to 4.5 miles of trail, extending from 22nd Street to 55th Street, covering about 40 acres, according to the city’s website. It includes playground equipment, shelters, boat ramps, restrooms and benches.
In addition to shepherding the Garden Guardians, Lind is a member of the Keep Moline Beautiful Commission, whose stated purpose is to work with volunteers to create a healthy, sustainable community environment, promoting beautification, litter prevention and recycling.
Lind was particularly active in promoting recycling when the city’s curbside program first started. Her home’s family room became a meeting place for city staff, employees of Midland Davis (the company that picked up recycling), teachers and book-club members. Teachers were invited with the thought that if kids could be educated on how and why to recycle, parents would come along.
Lind help staff informational booths at community events such as Bald Eagle Days and, in schools, she helped arrange field trips to the Scott Area Recycling Center and contests with prizes for posters promoting recycling.
Plants that can attract butterflies
A look at butterfly-attracting plants that are native to the United States
Agalinis paupercula var. borealis
Agalinis paupercula var. paupercula
Amaranthus tuberculatus
Ambrosia trifida
Amphicarpaea bracteata
Arabis glabra
Bidens alba
Camissonia contorta
Chenopodium album
Cirsium horridulum
Croton capitatus
Eriogonum abertianum
Helianthus argophyllus
Lupinus texensis
Peritoma serrulata
Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium ssp. obtusifolium
Rudbeckia hirta
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
Sida rhombifolia
Verbena stricta
Viola nephrophylla
Zizania aquatica
Other Eddy Award winners
Kelly McKay, education
McKay, a self-employed wildlife biologist from Hampton, devised “Building Better Birders” workshops, teaching them at nearly 100 sites across Iowa. The programs were funded with grants and offered free to participants. In addition to lectures, they included bird identification hikes, live birds, science and hands-on citizen science participation.
Musco Sports Lighting and the city of Muscatine, art
The two teamed up for a 2023 holiday light show choreographed with music on the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge in Muscatine. The lighting enhanced the riverfront experience, drawing thousands to the riverfront during that period.
Ducks Unlimited, stewardship
The national conservation organization is helping with wetland restoration on the Mississippi River in collaboration with a group called the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. In the Quad-Cities, 7,000 acres are targeted for restoration at the mouth of the Rock River.
Bi-State Regional Commission and Quad-City Health Initiative, river activity
The two entities promote QCTrails.org with mapping, announcements, statistics, social media posts and community outreach connecting trails to a healthy community.
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, revitalization
The two filmmakers who grew up in Bettendorf returned to the Quad-Cities to renovate an abandoned tire store in Davenport into a boutique independent cinema called The Last Picture House. The two-story building at 325 E. 2nd St. at the foot of the Government Bridge, features two indoor theaters, an outdoor theater with a view of the Mississippi River and a lounge with drinks and snacks. The house shows first-run, foreign, independent, classic and cult films.
Mary Lind shows off a stretch of Ben Butterworth Parkway on Moline's Mississippi riverfront that includes flower plantings maintained by volunteers. Lind has been shepherding the volunteers for 20 years and for her efforts she will receive an Eddy Award for in the category of stewardship from River Action Inc.
MetroLINK CEO and Managing Director Jeff Nelson speaks at the ribbon cutting for the renovated John Deere Commons Channel Cat Dock on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Moline. Nelson will receive a special recognition award for 40 years of leadership as the CEO of MetroLink and his fostering of environmental, safety, economic and community-building activities on Thursday, May 2, at the annual Eddy Awards in Bettendorf.