The Barefoot Gardeners of Fenwick Island have been hard at work, beautifying the town and the lighthouse, but their labor surely hasn’t gone unnoticed. They were recently awarded the Civic Development Award from the State Federated Garden Club for their landscaping and adornment around the town’s lighthouse.
Coastal Point • Susan Lyons
Vicki Carmean of the Barefoot Gardeners speaks at the recent dedication of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse.
Fenwick Island Town Council Member and co-founder of the Barefoot Gardeners Vicki Carmean said she was thrilled to have the group’s work recognized on a state-wide scale.
“It’s great to be noticed for something like this,” she said. “We might even consider taking it to the national level.”
The Barefoot Gardeners, members of a group that was started five years ago, have worked in close junction with the New Friends of the Fenwick Lighthouse to make it more accessible and presentable to the public.
“A lot of people don’t realize that we are two entities,” Carmean stated.
The New Friends help restore the history of the lighthouse, keeping the door open to the public and supporting costs such as the electric bill, while the gardeners undertook the responsibility of the landscaping, irrigation, cobblestone edging, planting and decorating around the structure.
The Barefoot Gardeners have raised money for their effort through sales, fundraisers and other events to help finance the adorning and upkeep of the plantings, and maintain the irrigation. They’ve held plant sales and sold garden art. And their upcoming Fall Festival for their 50 members generates donations and contributions that later help the committee.
The State of Delaware owns the lighthouse itself, maintaining paint and repairs, though there are plenty of others, locally, who help out to make it one of the area’s most well-known attractions.
“We’ve worked really closely with the state,” Carmean said, “and they’ve been a great help with everything. Everyone’s been doing a really good job on a regular basis.”
The group of gardeners is capped at 50, as monthly meetings are typically held at private homes and could only accommodate a limited number of people.
A “shoe list” keeps names of those waiting to join the group. Currently, there are 16 waiting to slip out of their shoes and help the committee.
“It’s a very creative club for everyone,” said Carmean, “and that’s the fun part of it. There’s not one person in the club that’s not interested.”
The group gets their hands dirty all throughout town, from planting bulbs in the median strip of Route 1, to decorating the Lighthouse at Christmastime.
“We’re trying to restore other civic development projects, too,” Carmean said. “We’re always looking for something new to do.
“The lighthouse seemed like such an easy project, but it entailed a lot more that we expected. It’s a good example, though, of how private groups can work with the state to raise money for something,” she added.
Their next project, set for next year, includes creating an herb garden just outside the lighthouse.
“We have a lot more landscaping and flower beds than the lighthouse would have had around it,” she said, “but we’re not trying to overdo it. We want to create things that will make it appealing to the eye. The herb garden represents what the keeper may have grown here at one time. They lived from hand and mouth, and we want to keep it like that.”
The Barefoot Gardeners have also been instrumental throughout town, starting up the children’s reading club in the summer months and a children’s butterfly garden at town hall.
The push to get the lighthouse as a recognized staple and an attraction has been manageable thanks to the support throughout the community, said Carmean.
“One thing I’ve noticed,” she said, “is that everyone focuses on that lighthouse, whether you live down Route 54 or you’re not from Fenwick Island. You can’t avoid it as you approach it. It’s become a symbol for home and for many other things. It’s another way we can really reach out to the community.”