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TULIPS ON TROOST
by Kathy Joyce
Greetings!!! Thank you from the bottom of my HEART for sharing my tiny contribution to your Beautiful Mission ...with the world!
I have a story to share.....a story which began in my youth and is as much a part of who I am as the smile on my face. Let me take you through this and get you to the point as fast as I possibly can.
Since 1964, I have been as devoted to John, Paul, George, and Ringo as a person could possibly be (without being scary.) I live in Boston, have lived a lot of places, been married and divorced and re married, raised a beautiful daughter, and still know that the threads of my being are and will always remain woven with wisdom which I absorbed from loving The Beatles.Ten years ago I got very sick and became unable to be a part of the workforce to earn a living.
This illness which at first devastated me, has led me to many blessings (as life quite often does).
I have always known that I am an artist but until recently have not been able to find my path of creativity.
I started doing decoupage,,,taking old things found at yard sales and thrift stores and making them beautiful using paper, scissors and glue. Perhaps a year into doing this I decided to check online and see what information I could find and I found an online decoupage group. I started making many pieces using imagery and colors of the things I loved,the group breathed new life into mine.
A year or so later the owner of this group, artist Durwin Rice invited me to become a group moderator . We developed an online relationship and our friendship grew and to this day continues to grow.. Durwin has taught me volumes about everything, and because we had grown up in polar opposite worlds ~~ I have enjoyed opening his eyes to my world.
In the past year. this brilliant artist has worked to bring life and beauty back into the area where he lives in Kansas City...an area that has been neglected to the point of decay. Very old, very beautiful buildings have been sitting here vacant for years. Durwin had the idea to plant Tulips on Troost Avenue (tulips to honor the Avenue's namesake Dr Benoist Troost,) He dreamed and believed and set a goal of ten thousand tulips for the first year. A small group of loving supporters and friends joined forces, met weekly, and worked diligently towards this goal . TULIPS ON TROOST was born.
Last Spring, in 2006 I am thrilled to tell you that seventy five thousand tulips bloomed on Troost Avenue!!!
This was accomplished by children, elders, students and some of the community....they did ALL of the planting, along with Durwin, his group, and lots of LOVE.
Please look at this video to see our first year's tulips!
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Because I still live in Boston I was not able to do much of the work, but I did lots of small tasks and whatever possible to help out. I sold one of my very collectable George Harrison items. (You do what you are inspired to do).
Durwin said "THANK YOU" and I said "No, thank George"
And Durwin said "Well..I think that George should have a Garden on Troost!!"
A man who knew nothing about the "Fabs" until we met had offered to try make this happen!
I was totally shocked, and thrilled with the idea .....the more time that passed, the more this seemed to me to be the PERFECT THANK YOU, and an appropriate tribute to George.
Durwin is the writer, so he wrote to the powers that be asking for blessings. George's sister Louise said that her brother would love to see children learning to grow flowers, in an area which otherwise would be sorely neglected.
I was able to do more pieces and sell some things for this. We are registered in Kansas City and. we now have a temporary George Garden Site which already has thousands of tulips planted, to be transferred whenever (and I hope to be there) we break ground in the official GARDEN.
This GARDEN is a Large Dream of two people.....whether or not it comes to fruition remains to be seen.
The JOURNEY of this dream has already been a magical one.
Durwin has been listing the IMAGINE PEACE Website on all of his websites and decided to do a little research on Reykjavik, We both felt the magic when we saw that the city of Reykjavik has a main street lined with TULIP LAMPPOSTS!!
We have already contacted the city to investigate how we could perhaps use the same idea in Kansas City on Troost Avenue..to brighten up the grey winters and keep the Tulips Shining On year round!!!
That all said... 'Tulips on Troost' started their planting yesterday.
I sent lots of IMAGINE PEACE Buttons to Durwin, and he gave them out to all of the volunteers.The news media came to interview him and the camera focused right in on his button! Here's The Fox 4 report & video.
I just want you to know that we will continue to keep Yoko's IMAGINE PEACE message flowing eternally.
THANK YOU YOKO...for the daily inspiration!!!!
I also want you to know that I did not share this story for publicity, or for any personal gain ......but I do sincerely hope that it will make YOKO SMILE!
Sincerely
Kathy Joyce
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