Garden Club Promotes Citywide Carnival Cleanup Effort In July
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John McMinn (left) and Jake McMinn work along the North Main Street sidewalk as part of Water Valley’s citywide cleanup effort in preparation for the annual Watermelon Carnival.8
By Jessie Gurner
Herald Contributor
WATER VALLEY – The Watermelon Carnival may still sound like it is a long way off, but July 31 and August 1 are a lot closer than they seem. Before we know it, Water Valley will be filled with music, laughter, old friends, family visits, class reunions, vendors, Watermelon queens, children, and record-setting watermelons.
In the weeks leading up to Carnival, the Town & Country Garden Club is inviting everyone to be part of the Water Valley Watermelon Welcome, a simple community effort to help our town look warm, cheerful, and ready for one of our favorite weekends of the year.
That is really what Carnival is. Water Valley doing what Water Valley does best: celebrating our own, welcoming old friends home, and inviting about 12,000 more folks to come enjoy it with us.
For one weekend, the whole town becomes part of the celebration. Folks drive through neighborhoods, walk downtown, stop in stores, wave from porches, and gather in City Park for the crafts, music, games, and festivities. Everywhere you look, the familiar streets and sidewalks of Water Valley seem dressed up for the occasion. It is a time when hometown pride shows up in big ways and small ones.
The Water Valley Watermelon Welcome is not meant to be complicated. No one is asking for grand displays or anything fancy. This is just a friendly invitation to look around your own little corner of town and do what you can.
Sweep the front steps. Pull a few weeds. Tidy the sidewalk. Freshen a flowerpot. Add a bow to the mailbox. Put a little red and green on the porch. Hang a basket, water the ferns, straighten the chairs, or add a small watermelon touch by the door. Businesses might brighten a window, sweep the storefront, or add something festive to welcome Carnival visitors.
It all counts.
Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference. A clean porch, a cheerful planter, a flag moving in the breeze, a pretty window, or a swept sidewalk can say, “We’re glad you’re here,” without saying a word.
The Garden Club knows that the beauty of Water Valley has never belonged to one group or one project. It belongs to everyone who cares enough to plant, sweep, trim, water, pick up, decorate, and make the place they love look a little brighter.
Carnival weekend will be here before we know it. Let’s get ready the Water Valley way, which is one porch, one planter, one storefront, one sidewalk, and one neighborly welcome at a time.
The Town & Country Garden Club hopes everyone will join in the Water Valley Watermelon Welcome and help our town shine for Carnival.
