HOT SPRINGS -- Stuart Perry doesn't know much about plants, flowers or other things botanical, yet he's one of the most valuable volunteers at Garvan Woodland Gardens. That's because Perry knows how to use heavy equipment -- machinery that moves earth and stone -- to create the hardscaping and underlying framework for many areas of the gardens.
The Gardens are on a 210-acre tract of land that juts out into Lake Hamilton. The woodland gardens were started by the late Verna Cook Garvan, who developed the land as her personal garden. She bequeathed the property to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and it is now an independent department of the UA's Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.
Volunteers pitch in on many chores in the garden, such as planting and weeding, serving as docents for tours, helping in the office and assisting at special events such as the Holiday Lights. But not all volunteers are created equal. Few, if any, have the skills Perry has. And, few if any, have put in the hours he has -- more than 8,000 volunteer hours. He and his wife, Diana, who died of cancer in 2015, began volunteering in 2004.
His first volunteer job at the gardens came about during one of many morning walks at the garden with his wife.
"I pointed out to Mike Brown, the construction superintendent, that the Nature Preserve over there needed bush hogging," he says gesturing in the direction of the Hixson Nature Preserve. "And I said, 'I'll bring my tractor over here and do that if you like.'"
Brown later asked Diana Perry what else her husband could do.
"Well, my wife, being the big supporter that she was, said, 'Well, he can do anything,'" Perry recalls.
The couple first contributed financially to create the Shannon Perry Hope Overlook in memory of their daughter. Shannon died of cancer when she was 28. "We've kept it natural," says Perry about the overlook, a small peaceful spot in the nature preserve with a bench and a view of a small creek that flows to a little pond.
On a recent tour of the garden, Perry drove a golf cart to Perry Wildflower Overlook, another project the Perrys not only helped finance but also helped build. The overlook features a flagstone terrace, garden beds, a waterfall, views of a wildflower garden and the lake beyond and bathrooms made with knotty pine ceilings and a dressing room for brides.
"My wife held rebar while I tied them up in the wall there," he says. She also held up drywall and weeded the wildflower garden. Mrs. Perry was also an active volunteer and had more than 2,000 volunteer hours in the garden.
"Each rock in this project I hand-picked. I picked each one from our inventory and loaded them in a bucket [on a front-end loader] and brought them down here for the rock masons to use," he says. The scenic spot now also has a little patio area with trees and flowers built in memory of Diana.
Perry has used his skills to dig ditches for wiring and waterlines, help create a cave in the children's garden, grade pathways and move giant boulders.
"He's left his fingerprint in a spot or two," says Brown with a laugh. "It's rare that you have a volunteer that has as broad of experience as Mr. Perry has had. You can't hire that. There aren't many people like Mr. Perry that give both time and money. That's one thing that the crew has respected over the years, the fact that he backs up what he did with his time. That's extremely rare."
Part of the advantage of being a volunteer is that he doesn't have to keep the same hours as employees.
"For example, working on the point out there, I had over 2,000 hours just working on that," Perry says. He and his wife also put in time when the gardens were closed. "We'd crank up on a project. We'd come in on a Saturday or Sunday to get ahead."
Perry points out various boulders and large rocks, some weighing as much as 6,000 pounds, that he has helped move and set with cranes, trackhoes and other pieces of machinery. One particularly large rock used on the Perry Wildflower Overlook took two Bobcats to get to the site.
"I got on one side of it with the forks under it, and Mike Brown got on the other side with the forks under it," Perry explains. They balanced the boulder between them as Perry backed up and Brown moved forward down the path and around corners to the rock's final spot.
"There's a limited number of people I trust with my life," Brown says. "And I trust him with my life."
To find out how to volunteer at the gardens call Susan Harper, Visitor Services director, at (501) 262-9603 or (800) 366-4664. The gardens at 550 Arkridge Road, Hot Springs, are open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through mid-November.
High Profile on 06/11/2017