Before she passed away from breast cancer six years ago, Dana Plummer enjoyed beautifying the grassy islands around the Windham Rotary at routes 202 and 302. So when Sarah Elliott found out about the Pink Tulip Project, she thought of her mother.

“What better way to remember her than to plant tulips in the area she always planted,” said Elliott, who along with around 30 other volunteers spent Sunday morning planting 2,000 tulip bulbs purchased from the Maine Cancer Foundation, which uses the money raised to fight all types of women’s cancer.

This spring, when the rotary blooms pink with tulips, Elliott said motorists will be reminded that no woman is alone in the fight against cancer.

Taking part in the Pink Tulip Project is an idea that has nested within Elliott for a while. With the help of volunteers from the Windham Cancer Support Group, and the blessing of the Rotary Garden Club, she spent the summer raising money for the cause.

The group went to Windham Summerfest and to the farmers market. They approached local businesses, and got a boost when Roosevelt Trail Nursery donated $1,000 and its expertise, and also agreed to prepare the beds. Busque Construction pitched in with loam, setting the scene for Sunday’s planting.

On Sunday, while most of the planters headed to an impromptu planting lesson from Joe Gagne and Genevieve Coombs of Roosevelt Trail Nursery, three women confident in their abilities headed to the south island on the rotary and began planting 500 bulbs.

With her hands deep in the dirt, Pam Menard said she was taking part in the event in memory of her mother, who died of leukemia when Menard was 24.

“Anything with the American Cancer Society I always try to support as well as I can,” she said.

Elliott’s father and Plummer’s widower, Rep. Gary Plummer, R-Windham, also a member of the Rotary Garden Club, said the organization began planting flowers in the area in 1987. It makes sense, he said, to have a worthwhile cause like the Pink Tulip Project have its Windham presence in the Rotary.

But Elliott doesn’t want the group to stop there.

“We plan to paint the community pink,” she said. “We want to do the library. We want to do the high school.”

Elliot can be reached by phone at 892-0640 or by e-mail at plummersplace@verizon.net.

Pam Menard, left, and Cheryl Atherton were among the 30 or so volunteers who Sunday helped plant tulip bulbs in the four islands surrounding the Windham Rotary. The planting was part of the Pink Tulip Project of the Maine Cancer Foundation, which aims to raise money and awareness to fight women’s cancer.