I just want to thank all of you for your emails. Mary and I have not been doing much in the garden since the end of June. We are waiting for funds to be distributed from the Pfizer grant as we have run out money and donations. Once we get the funds, we will be able to finish the amphitheater and some of the other things we started. We can’t even put the rowboat in because all the sand, needed to install the pavers in the amphitheater, is being stored in that particular spot. And yes, as many of you have noticed and written to me, the sailboat was removed. That makes me really sad, it would have been a great asset to the site. I’ll explain that in a later email. Thank you, though, for all the emails and encouragement.

In the meantime we had a display at the Waterford Library on their large Art Wall. I’m told that it was very well received and got a lot of attention. I know I’ve received a lot of interest in the garden from it. I hope that we can continue highlighting the garden at the other libraries in our community over the next several months.

We were also lucky to meet with Merrill Gay, Executive Director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance and Jessica Ciparelli, Communications Specialist at the Alliance. This is a statewide organization that advocates for children ages 0-8, the same group that the cognitive garden is targeting. Their focus is on early childhood and their goal is that “families have strategies and capacity for early care and education so that each child is supported by comprehensive and interconnected services including early learning, nutrition, and social, emotional, and physical health.”

We gave Merrill and Jessica a tour of the garden and talked about our hope that it will be a resource to the many families, preschools, elementary schools, daycare facilities, and other organizations in our state involved with early childhood. Many of these are members of the Alliance. You can check out the organization, its goals, its accomplishments, and its membership at http://www.earlychildhoodalliance.com/.

We are hoping to be back in the garden at the beginning of September.  Some of you have had great comments and advice. We will bring many of your ideas up with the campus administration when we next meet. Cheers to a fruitful and happy summer!