BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Students at Margaret Beeks Elementary School in Blacksburg took a tour of their new book garden in honor of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge Garden in Chimney Rock, North Carolina that was washed away by Hurricane Helene.
The garden contains stones with the covers of 2nd to 5th grade students’ favorite books.
The stones were specially painted by art students at New River Community College for their spring art project.
“I like to read ‘The Cat in the Hat,’” said Josey Dalton, a 2nd grade student.
This idea was inspired by Margaret Beeks’ longtime librarian, Ronda Burch, who went to the garden in Lake Lure last summer and fell in love with its beauty. She says when Helene destroyed the garden, she knew she had to find a way to resemble it and keep its memory alive.
“As we were walking through, they have these beautiful stones painted like books and I took pictures. I was enjoying it and I was thinking I would love to do something like this at our school,” said Burch.
That idea is now real-life, as the book garden will now be out in front of the school building forever for students and the community to enjoy.
“Personally, I really like books and I like seeing books. With this, I feel like I can take one of those books and open it up,” said Roslyn Poff, a 5th grade student.
Mrs. Burch says she plans to share photos and videos of the memorial garden in Blacksburg with the people in Chimney Rock.
“Just so they could see that we still care about them and we’re still thinking of them,” said Burch.
She also thanks Home Depot and Signarama in Christiansburg for donating the stones and signs for the book garden.
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