Glenn Morill
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| | Hometown Hero: Glenn Morill plants flowers to help Franklin flourish
By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI Monitor staff
Each time Glenn Morrill drives around the traffic circle in Franklin and the long grass blows in the breeze, he jokes the swaying blades are waving hello. |
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| The long grass at the rotary is one of many spots Morrill can look at in New Hampshire’s smallest city, and know that he contributed to the “behind the scenes beautification.”
Along Central Street in Franklin, kayaks adorn the street repurposed as flower beds. In one, sweet potato vines are planted with petunias and long grass. In addition to the kayaks, old bikes are refurbished as planters, too.
Morrill leads a team of volunteers behind the kayak flowerbeds each year. As a lifelong resident of Franklin, it’s one of several ways he helps support the community that he’s never left.
“I love this community. The people that I grew up with, the folks from my folks’ generation, just great people who were involved in the community and different things,” he said. “And we should be, it’s always been just a special place.”
Morrill remembers driving from Concord to Franklin down Route 103 through Boscawen and noticing the flower beds that Black Forest Nursery would plant. He thought to himself, “I wish somebody in Franklin would do that.”
Morrill went home and talked to his adult sons about the idea (they too were born and raised in Franklin). They suggested the kayak planters.
Now, when an old kayak is brought back to Outdoor New England, it’s handed over to Morrill to plant in.
This year, 50 kayaks decorated downtown.
For nearly two decades Morrill worked for the city in buildings and grounds, working in the parks and landscaping. After that, he did the same for a senior facility, before retiring.
Like many lifelong Franklin residents, Morrill can trace the history of the city in a sentence – he remembers the 1970s when the mills were up and running and then the subsequent decline when they shuttered.
When a proposal for Mill City Park came to town, though – building a white water park along the Winnipesaukee River – he watched the community spring back to life.
“Franklin is headed in the right direction,” he said. “The river is bringing Franklin back as it did. First, it was the mills and now it’s recreation.”
During Winni River Days and other events sponsored by the park, he’ll look at the license plates on cars parked along Central Street. More and more are from out of state.
To him, that’s a good thing. It means people are coming to Franklin to take advantage of what the area has to offer – from kayaking in the river to mountain biking.
For each new visitor, he hopes they have a good outlook on Franklin from their first drive down Central Street. That goes back to his gardening and kayak planters.
Morrill remembers as a kid his father always had a big vegetable garden. He went to school for landscaping and continued the tradition of growing at home.
“My focus has always been to do things in the community to make it beautiful,” he said. “When people drive through, first impression.”
While Morrill’s community contributions are visible downtown, he also chips in outside the garden. On the third Monday of each month, he leads a group of volunteers to cook a meal at the Bread and Roses Soup Kitchen.
This spring, over coffee with a group from his church, he also began fundraising to sponsor field trips for kids in the Franklin school district.
With every project he does, he is quick to credit the team behind him. To him, it’s easy to contribute when there are great neighbors and friends behind him.
“It’s all about taking pride in your community,” he said. “And being there for others.” |
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