To the Editor:

While the P.E.S. Garden Club of Phippsburg greatly appreciates the article about our chair reclaiming project (“In Phippsburg, dumped wood makes for school treasure,” Dec. 17), I must correct a few minor errors in it.

We “dump pickers” — a joking reference to our task — shed no “sense of decorum” when we go to our local landfill. There is no decorum to be shed. I walk around in work clothes most days, my fingernails broken and brown from gardening and painting.

Our “dump” — a word that is hard to remove from my yesteryear vocabulary — is a well-run, organized place with separate areas for old wood (that’s where we find the chairs), single-stream recycling, regular trash, can and bottle recycling, several piles for metal and yard debris, plus a large shed container for clothes, books, household items and furniture. It’s a great place.

We see our neighbors there all the time. In Acton, Mass. — our previous home — politicians camp out at their landfill to woo potential voters in season.

The other minor misunderstanding is how the club meets.

Kids in the club meet two times a week in the fall and spring, for all manner of garden work, crafts and cooking. They are sometimes joined by parents — especially in the runup to the annual December school and Rec commission crafts fair — and for special “heavy lifting” and construction projects.

Some parents and kids also show up for weekend projects, like the chair work. Because the chair project was so much fun — new this winter — mothers will be meeting several times midweek to work on the chair re-dos, with the kids welcome on weekends.

Our volunteers are critical for the success of the club. We so appreciate the generosity of all who have stepped up to give time, materials and muscle after work and on weekends. We’ll be looking for those old furniture donations right after the holidays.

Carol Emerson
Phippsburg Elementary
School Garden Club
Phippsburg