Remembering Volunteer Gary Vogel
He was the only male member of the Green Team.
He called us “you ladies” and liked to convey the impression
that we needed to tell him what to do. “Whatever you ladies
want,” he would say meekly, as though totally at the mercy of
our whims.
his own plants at home. In the fall he dug up geraniums and
bulbs and put them in storage for winter.
Gary could fix anything that needed fixing, and that included
wielding a paintbrush when called for. He maintained the
greenhouses and understood their delicate temperaments. He
was fearless on the precarious catwalk of the big greenhouse;
perhaps his 40 years of experience as an elevator repairman
helped?
The opposite was closer to the truth.
• What to do about mildew on the dahlias? Ask Gary.
• Is it time to plant the geraniums? Check with Gary.
• Golf cart stuck in the mud? Call for Gary!
Gary had a solution for all pests, be they whiteflies in the
greenhouse, moles in the flowerbeds, or coons in the bird
feeders. He anticipated the tasks that needed to be done and
completed many of them behind the scenes when nobody else
was around. Coming to work on a snowy February morning,
we would find the walkway to the greenhouse already shoveled
for us. If we vowed to finally tackle our humongous pile of
dirty flowerpots, we’d arrive the next workday to a mountain
of freshly washed pots drying on the table.
Gary Vogel died on July 1. He had volunteered for the DABG
for about 20 years, the last 15 or so working primarily with the
Green Team, although his considerable skills were sometimes
called into play for the Brown Team as well. In addition, he
was a member of the Operations Board and helped with
special events on the grounds.
Working with a gaggle of Green Team women had to be
trying at times. But Gary met all situations with a big grin.
Even though Gary was ill last winter, his truck still pulled into
the parking lot most Tuesdays and Thursdays, the traditional
Green Team workdays. He didn’t stay long and was a little
slower than usual. But that didn’t stop him from climbing a
high ladder or pushing around a heavy tub of soil whenever
our backs were turned.
Over the winter he sterilized our potting soil, helped
upgrade the seedlings in the greenhouse, and kept the
growing plants watered, fertilized, and pest-free. In the
spring he set up the Peter Rabbit and Billy Goat gardens
and tirelessly roto-tilled all of the other beds before they
were planted. Gary could get more leaf mulch on the end
of a pitchfork than three other Green Team members
combined, and he cheerfully delivered load after load
wherever it was needed.
The Green Team is donating a brick for one of the DABG
paths in memory of Gary Vogel. But that hardly seems
enough. The real memorial is this: Not a Tuesday or Thursday
goes by that a situation doesn’t crop up causing “we ladies” to
wonder what Gary would do.
In his “spare time” over the summer, Gary weeded, watered,
and grew tomatoes, pumpkins, and other vegetables outside
the McAleece building. This was in addition to taking care of
Submitted by Kennie Harris,
with thanks to the Green Team for their memories
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