Community

Being Neighborly | You have to get up pretty early to volunteer like these nonagenarians

You can find Harris Atkins and Richard Russell on Harborview Drive on the first and third Tuesdays of every month in the summer — if you’re up early enough.

Community Sponsor

Community stories are made possible in part by Peninsula Light Co, a proud sponsor of Gig Harbor Now.

The two friends and neighbors fire up a specially outfitted watering truck by 5 a.m. and fill its 110-gallon water bladder at the city of Gig Harbor’s public works office. Then they begin the rounds on Harborview Drive, watering the flower baskets. It takes the team about three hours to finish the job.

That is a pretty remarkable feat of community-spirited volunteer work for anyone. What makes this particular team even more remarkable is this: Atkins and Russell are both 92 years old.

Richard Russell and Harris Atkins volunteer with the Downtown Water Alliance’s flower basket watering program. The two have been helping to water the flower baskets each summer for more than 10 years. Photo courtesy of Carrianne Ekberg

Atkins and Russell are a special team, said Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance executive director Carrianne Ekberg. The alliance organizes the volunteer flower basket watering program.

“They are great friends, and they are still finding ways to support the community, no matter what age they are,” Ekberg said.

Volunteer effort

Russell and Atkins form one of the 14 teams that water 55 hanging baskets filled with colorful flowers.

“We wouldn’t have those beautiful baskets that light up Harborview Drive in the summer without them,” said Carrianne Ekberg, Executive Director of DWA. ”There are no funds to pay anyone to water them, and they need to be watered every day.”

Residents sponsor the baskets, and the call goes out in March for anyone who would like to sponsor a basket in memory of a loved one or a pet, Ekberg said. Some businesses sponsor the baskets as well. Sponsorships cover the price of the basket, and any extra costs for the memorial placard that hangs with the basket on the pole, as well as other supplies.

Timberland Bank is this year’s watering program sponsor, said Ekberg. That sponsorship covers the cost of the truck supplies.

People cycle in and out of volunteering to water the flower baskets due to life changes or moves to other locales. So, when new volunteers come on board, Ekberg relies on Atkins and Russell to get them up to speed.

“They are mentors for a lot of other folks,” she said. “It’s great that when there’s a new person I just tell them to call Harris Atkins.”

Morning calm

Atkins is a morning person. He said he enjoys being out in the harbor before the hustle and bustle of the day begin. Taking in the views of the harbor, surrounded by the quiet stirring of sea life and waterfowl, he said it’s a treat to volunteer.

“I kind of got hooked,” Atkins said. “It’s a magical time to be around the harbor. Regulars are out walking their dogs, and there’s no traffic.”

When asked if the two of them planned to volunteer again next year, when they will both be 93, Atkins said they’d play it by ear.