LIBERTY, NY — For three days, people from age three to 73 gathered, mingled and got their hands dirty for a good cause. These volunteers came together at Creekside Park and at Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary in Parksville to plant over 500 yellow daffodil bulbs, to paint, to clean a pathway, to count can tabs and to dash. 

This camaraderie was part of Liberty’s participation in the Daffodil Project. The goal of the organization is to plant 1.5 million yellow daffodil bulbs to commemorate the children who perished in the Holocaust and subsequent humanitarian crises. 

That quest for peace and to treat people with kindness was noted by town supervisor Frank DeMayo in his remarks, and by David Feldman, the co-founder of the Daffodil Project, who came from Atlanta, GA, for this project. While in Liberty, Feldman met some relatives, including Warren and Beth Gordon, and residents who knew about Katz’s Bakery, the current home of the Liberty Museum and Arts Center. That bakery connected Feldman and Gordon to the community. 

Spearheaded by Dr. Hope Blecher, a community volunteer and resident of Parksville, the scope and success of this three-day project demonstrates that people can come together and make a difference. With a Sullivan 180 Neighborhood grant, the fiscal sponsorship of ENGNCNTR and Thomas Bosket of ENGN, plus the open door of Nick Rusin, assistant to the town supervisor, the project was underway. 

To bring it to life required the help of many people behind the scenes and of people who were present for the three-day event. 

This is not the end, because over 250 bulbs were also planted at St. John Street Education Center in Monticello, with more to be planted in Hurleyville. 

While the bulbs rest for the winter and await their spring blossoms, at Creekside Park one can see the sign designating the daffodil garden as part of the Daffodil Project. There are two more components of this specific Dove-Daffodil-Dash project in Liberty. The culmination will be the dedication of two benches—one at Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary and one at Creekside Park. These benches will provide a place for people to sit, to pause and to reflect about the purpose of the project and the four words that became the theme: hope, sanctuary, compassion and community. The project will continue for the next two years. 

The canvases people created at Creekside Park will be on display at the Liberty Museum and Arts Center in spring 2024. 

Rose Barnett of Arrowhead Ranch and Retreat and Horse Rescue will host a daffodil garden project—titled “How Bill Graham Went from Jewish Refugee to Rock Impresario”—in memory of Bill Graham. 

 By fall 2025, Jessica and Alyssa Thalmann of Thalmann’s Service Center will host a dove and a daffodil garden. A walk/run component will be part of each event. 

To continue with creative community projects and civic engagement, Blecher recently established Hope’s Compass Fund at the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. “We have great people here. We had a family reunion and a trip down memory lane. Students, teachers, parents, families and friends participated. We met and got our hands dirty. Let’s share the positive aspects of what we have and do here. It happened and can continue to happen,” she said.

Funding for this project was made possible in part by a Neighborhood Revitalization Grant from Sullivan 180. Additional support provided by ENGNCNTR.com, the Worldwide Daffodil Project, Arthur’s Acres Animal Sanctuary, Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association, Liberty Garden Club, Liberty Public Library, Town of Liberty, Blecher-Croney, H. Dorfman, P. Lutz, S. Laub, F. Eisenberg, M. Frumess, D. Rigney, C. Dame, M. Gavin, L. Krivda, T. Grafmuller, L. Sass, J. MacArthur, J. Strassman, G. Silverman, E. Barbanti and other anonymous GoFundMe donors. 

Funding was also provided by MiSN, Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County, Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Liberty Chamber of Commerce, the Village of Liberty, GrowingSOULS.org, Liberty Museum and Arts Center, Kristt Kelly Office Systems, Liberty Rotary, ACE/Trading Post, ShopRite of Liberty, J. Siegel, D. Simkin, Upstate D-Tours, Sullivan Septic/Ken’s Cans and Catskill Mountain Spa.

Story contributed by the Dove-Daffodil-Dash project committee.