On Monday, October 1, we welcomed Dan Stricker, Syracuse resident, to our school as our second mystery guest of the yearner our Make the World A Better Place unit. Dan came representing the many volunteers who have transformed the end caps along Meadowbrook Drive over the past few years. Dan shared with us how the idea developed, from landscaping the first end cap to the last. Area residents collaborate with Syracuse Parks and Recreation who provide many of the annuals planted in these beds. They also collaborate with the county and area business, who have donated funds to pay for mulch and perennials. Through Tomorrow’s Neighborhood Today (TNT) this group of volunteers received funds to pay for a sign for the neighborhood. These efforts have totally transformed their neighborhood and made the world a better place.

Dan created the very first birdhouse which he added to one of the end caps near his home. “It was a bit like guerrilla gardening!” Then a second bird house appeared, so Dan decided to create a third. This back and forth continued until the two bird house makers finally met! Now there is a bird  house on each end cap, including a church, an airplane, and a basketball.  Dan also shared how Dave Kirby started another project to mulch the trails around the Hookway Retention Basin which is heavily used by walkers and joggers alike. And as if that wasn’t enough, Dan gifted us with our very own New School bird house!