Charlotte man uses garden in small MoRA neighborhood park to make big difference
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY HOMETOWN) — With his hands in the dirt and the trees towering above, Dave Molinaro is immersed in the big and the small.
“My favorite time is, I think walking in here in the early morning when it is quiet and the birds are chirping and the squirrels are chucking,” said Dave.
This is one of his favorite places, their little but loved native garden at Mason Wallace Park in Charlotte.
He and other volunteers adopted this park several years ago. It was about when Dave noticed his neighborhood was changing.
“During that time period of about eight years ago, this area had taken a nosedive,” said Dave. “Stores were leaving left and right, you know. The drug stores, the supermarkets — gone!”
He said, he couldn’t stop everything happening but he could start… somewhere.
“There is some major stuff happening in the world, I sort of step back and say, what can we do here locally on a small level,” said Dave.
In this case, it’s ground level. They’ve added two gardens and have plans for a third. They pick up trash, paint, do anything to help this place… grow.
“Anything to help the area thrive,” said Dave.
He has become an expert at balancing it all, except for one thing.
“I tell you I can’t remember a plant’s name if my life depended on it!” laughed Dave. “I can plant the hell out of them, but I can’t think of a plant name.”
Okay, he may not know the names of the plants, but he cares.
They all do.
It’s some plants in a 30-acre park in a city full of people.
But what if, everyone started small?
That could be something big.
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