I am 68 years old, and live in Brunswick. The Senior Gardens on Industry Road have existed for many decades. I have had one of these plots ever since I became old enough to be eligible, which is 55. I live in an apartment building. This garden has been the main focus of my life ever since I moved to Brunswick in 2012; it was my heart. 

Imagine my dread when I read an email from the director, this morning, informing all gardeners that the Senior Gardens, located on Brunswick town land, are no longer, and that construction of a new building is slated for this parcel. According to Brunswick Town Manager Julia Henze, this will be a new, bigger “fuel depot” for Public Works trucks. Work for that new building is set to begin in June, just in time for planting season.

Besides my concern over the $200 that I have already spent on fertilizer and that my seedlings, now growing under lights, will have no place to go, I grieve for the land itself.

Moreover, I grieve for the people who are valued so little by the powers-that-be. The money always has the last word, it seems, and the people are left outside of the decision-making process, without so much as an apology or an explanation. This is a typical example of the exploitation, indifference and callousness that I see in the news from governing officials today.

Paul Whitcomb
Brunswick