When a community garden was proposed for Jordan Bay Place, an Avesta Housing affordable housing community for older adults in Raymond, Maine, Benny Beard was one of the first people to sign up. He organized volunteers, planned what should be planted and where, gathered soil and seaweed for fertilizer, and lovingly nurtured everything from corn and rhubarb to squash and asparagus. When one planter was full, he asked property management for another.

And another.

And another.

“By the end, he had close to 20 planters inside it,” said Debby Tarr, coordinator of Avesta partner Age Friendly Raymond and a friend of Benny. “His plans were gigantic.”

When Benny passed away at age 83 earlier this month, it seemed appropriate that the garden he loved so much should contain something to remember him. So his fellow residents hand-painted a sign and erected it at the garden entrance, dubbing it “Benny’s Blossoms.”

“Any resident who puts so much of themselves into creating something for the community is really something we like to see,” said Resident Services Coordinator Samuel Schwartz. “Benny was one of those people, so this is a fitting tribute.”

Much of the garden still provides evidence of Benny’s handiwork. Come harvest time, it will be made available for all to share in the Jordan Bay Community Room – because that’s what Benny would have wanted. And for those who knew him, visiting the garden will be bittersweet.

“That’s Benny’s place,” Tarr said. “Not to see him there this summer is going to be tough. He was a great guy.”