All posts by Julie Barnes

Q&A with Lexis Homes and Vereco Homes

February 21, 2018 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

This year, Lexis Homes will approach their 100th completed home. Launched in 2009, the Saskatoon-based business is a Mike Holmes approved home builder. The Holmes Group analyzed the builders in the Saskatoon market and then sourced Lexis Homes to work with them. “It’s a great partnership,” says Lexis CEO, Cam Skoropat. “They provide comprehensive inspections in all our homes and also provide technical support for us.” We recently chatted with Cam to learn more about Lexis—one of Sarilia’s suggested home builders.

A Vereco Home built by Lexis

Who are your clients?
Our clients are typically “move up” home buyers. They are already homeowners, but want to upgrade to a home that better suits their needs. This could mean a larger home or a better location (neighbourhood/lot).

Are you witnessing any trends in the home building industry lately?
Higher energy efficiency seems to be top of mind. There also seems to a desire for larger garages.

What kinds of green technology or innovation are homeowners looking for these days?
I would say insulation under the basement slab is a key area for efficiency without high costs. Upgrading wall insulation and attic insulation are also popular.

How has demand for either environmentally friendly features and materials changed throughout your time in the industry?
In the last 3-4 years energy efficiency has been top of mind for many people. When we first started building, higher energy efficiency wasn’t on the radar for home buyers.

What home building practices would you like to see more of in your industry?
I still think we could use more professionalism in the industry. There are over 200 home builders in the Saskatoon area and there is a vast range of quality and professionalism in the range of builders. There is very little in the form of regulation or licensing of homebuilders so the “buyer beware” mantra is very true in our market.

Lexis has recently partnered with Vereco Homes. Can you tell us what your collaboration is about?
Sure! We have similar mindsets in that we want to see more high quality homes in Saskatoon and area. Our focus was on quality of construction and Vereco was focused on the energy quality. It was a natural fit to combine the two. Vereco designs ultra-energy-efficient homes for their clients and we work together with them to turn the designs into reality.

We also spoke with Ronn Lepage, the founder of Vereco Homes, to get his take on working with Lexis.

We understand Vereco’s mission is to help Canadians build green homes and that you use Vereco Licensed Builders (VLB) for home construction. Vereco has a very stringent process for selecting VLBs. Why did you select Lexis?
We select our VLBs based on competitive pricing, quality, reputation and risk minimization. Lexis is a well-known brand in Saskatoon and anyone that owns a Lexis home will tell you about the quality of their homes. Many of their trades had worked with us on other Vereco homes so Lexis had no issues learning the unique features related to building our homes. They are a stable company that has consistently been growing over the last 7-8 years. As a VLB, Lexis has to compete against at least two other VLBs to win each contract so our process ensures that they are competitive.

What are the unique features of Vereco Homes?
Our homes are designed for energy efficiency, comfort, and durability.

A home uses energy for space heating, domestic hot water, lights and appliances. The key technologies used to reduce energy consumption for space heating are passive solar design (using the sun to heat the home), additional insulation (lots of additional insulation in walls, attic and foundation), better windows and ultra-efficient mechanical equipment.

For domestic hot water, our energy efficiency strategies are focused on reduction in the amount of hot water consumed but we also use some neat technologies such as drain water heat recovery.

To reduce energy used for lights in appliances, our primary strategy is using energy efficient lighting, but we are also finding very good results from phantom energy circuits and whole-house monitoring systems.

We’ve found that many people are more interested in comfort than they are in energy savings. We design comfort into our homes with five perspectives: air quality, lighting, temperature, acoustics and safety.

More and more people are starting to consider the durability of their homes. We design our homes to last at least 100 years with a focus on materials, interior and exterior moisture management and flexibility. We design open-concept homes with flex rooms (for example, an office that can become a bedroom). Wherever possible, we position rear entrances in a way to allow the future development of a granny or rental suite. All our homes are designed to accommodate future solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and grey water recycling.

The cows come home to Sarilia

November 22, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Michael Pollan, a food writer and journalist, only eats meat about once a week. When he does eat it, he’s careful to purchase it from farmers who raise their animals humanely. “But it’s delicious, it’s nutritious and I think there is a place for farms where animals get to live a good life and, as the farmers like to say, have one bad day,” he says.

Sarilia is home to several cows. They graze freely among 120 acres of natural grasslands and drink from a natural spring. Overall, they have a great life, and when the time comes, they too have just “one bad day.”

The cows are co-owned between three Sarilia residents: Jordan, Joe and Gwen. We recently chatted with Jordan, to learn what it’s like to raise cattle in our river valley community.

How did you get involved in cattle raising?

I was born and raised on a cattle/grain farm. I’ve always enjoyed the cow side of farming so it was kind of nice to have a little bit of agriculture at Sarilia.

How would you describe the pasture to someone who hasn’t seen it?

It’s really quite pretty down in the coulees and the natural spring that runs through. It’s really a great place for a picnic actually. It’s just peaceful. I take my boys out and they feed the cows. It’s just kind of nice. There’s no cell service so it’s quiet.

What kinds of cows have you been raising at Sarilia?

This year we had four black heifers and two black angus cows, one speckled park cross cow and one Charolais cross cow. We also had a bull, temporarily, that we borrowed from a friend.

How old are your boys and what do they feed the cows?

Jaxon is five and Nash is one. We take oats to them once and awhile. They like to do that. I wish they were a little more scared of the cows (laughs), but they like it.

What do the cows eat?

It’s just natural grasses, and a block of salt for them. I give them oats probably once every two weeks. Just to get them used to (people) coming up and keeping them calm.

Do you name the cows?

Jaxon likes to name them. The black and white cow (the speckled park) he calls “Chocolate Chip.” We actually had three calves out there this year so he called one calf “Joey” and the other one “Georgie.” We wanted to name it George, but it’s a girl so we named it Georgie. Gwen named our red cow “Emily.”

What is it like to co-own the cows with two other Sarilia residents?

It’s a lot of fun. We’re all partners. It works out really well. That way, if something happens to one animal, someone’s not out a whole animal, we’re all out a little bit. But that hasn’t happened. I’ve gotten to know Joe and Gwen really well through it.

What do you end up doing with the meat?

We make roasts, steak, ground beef and sausage. Joe likes liver so he takes the liver.

What have been the benefits of raising the cows here?

It’s good camaraderie with your neighbours. It’s good bonding with my boys, to take them out. It’s fun to watch the cows grow and how they really get used to you and learn to trust you. I really enjoyed checking on them in the summer and taking them oats. Just kind of watching their progress.

It’s probably nice to know where your food is coming from.

Exactly. And we know they range free all summer and they’re grass fed, so the meat is pretty lean. It’s nice to have control over your food.

What are your plans for next year?

We’re going to do a few fundraiser cows, with all the proceeds going back into Sarilia—whether it’s boardwalks or building warm up shacks for ice rinks down on the river.

Q & A with Roger Bell from Evermore Homes

August 29, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

When Roger and Tamara Bell general contracted the construction of their home in 2000, they discovered “a mutual love of the construction process,” says Roger. “We decided at that time to work towards creating a home building company.” They founded Evermore Homes in 2005.

Today, the company is a Certified Professional Home Builder, a member of the Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association and an award nominee for the Rob Dumont Energy Management awards.

We chatted with Roger to glean some industry insight and his tips for building at Sarilia.

What trends are you seeing in the home building industry today?
We’re finding that customers, in particular our younger customers, are caring more about lifestyle than about having the fanciest home. The refreshing evolution in our industry is that customers don’t want to be house poor and they’re focusing more on sensible designs and features that provide beautiful and functional homes, while maintaining their ability to afford and enjoy the most important things in life.

You and Tamara built a beautiful home at Sarilia for Gwen and Ronn, Sarilia’s developers. How important was it to plan and design the house to take advantage of the river views?
We met extensively with Gwen and Ronn during the planning stage of their build and facilitated on site meetings with them and their designer. It was an opportunity for all of us to evaluate site lines and important visual features. The result was a highly customized home that suited their river view lot very well.

What kind of environmentally friendly features do you incorporate into the homes you build?
We are Saskatoon’s premiere Net Zero and Net Zero Ready home builder. We’ve got vast experience in green home building practices and products including features such as drain water heat recovery, solar power generation and building homes that manage air exchange, are properly insulated for both heat and cold, and use the natural environment to aid in their function.

Although our passion is Net Zero, we do build conventional homes for our customers as well, but we’ve incorporated the same construction methods into all the homes we build, so even a conventional home built by Evermore Homes would perform better than others.

Are there any home building practices you’d like to see more of?
We’d like to see more site-specific design work done for homes in general. The orientation of the build site and the placement of the home on that site creates both opportunities and challenges for smart green construction. Your builder needs to understand this reality. We’ve got a track record of working with customers to optimize their design while managing build costs to achieve the right balance of upfront and operating costs.

You can manage features like window glazing and the dimensions of your overhangs to take advantage of the heat the sun offers in cooler seasons and you want to be able to shelter yourself from the heat of the sun during the hot summers.

What advice would you offer someone who is planning to build a home at Sarilia?
First and foremost, I would say to choose a builder who understands the opportunities that Sarilia provides, because in terms of the atmosphere and the vibe out there, it’s something special, so you don’t just want to take a stock plan and drop it on that site—you want to spend time tailoring a design for the specific lot that you’re looking at. A custom home builder who understands that would be important, and I would say choose a builder who has experience building at Sarilia.

Second, in choosing a custom home builder, you’re able to take advantage of that Sarilia experience. I would choose a builder that specializes in custom homes versus market homes. There’s a distinction to be made there.

Third, I’d spend as much time at the property as you can. Simply spending time at your desired Sarilia build site will prove to be inspirational. That’s certainly what we’ve found. It’s relaxing to be there and it allows you to unplug a little bit, slow down and really think about what you’re looking for. It’ll result in a more thoughtful design. It results in a better home that you’ll enjoy forever more.

Dogs of Sarilia

July 7, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We have our fair share of four-legged friends here at Sarilia. In fact, many of our residents say that the dog-friendly nature of the river valley is one of the reasons they chose to move here. Whether it’s a walk along the beautiful trails, a stroll on the beach in summer, or playing fetch amongst our wide open green spaces, there are plenty of fun activities for dogs and humans alike in our community. Here are just a few of the adorable pups who call Sarilia home.

Names: Tucker and Peaches
Ages: 13 years old
Owners: Amber & Matt (Responses from Amber)

How long have you had Tucker and Peaches?

We’ve had them since they were puppies. We adopted them from the U of S College of Veterinary Medicine.

What are some of their likes and dislikes?

They like food, sleep, and getting into trouble. When they were younger they use to live to escape the backyard and run all over the neighbourhood, but now they’re a bit old for those types of adventures. They both hate the water and getting their nails trimmed.

Do you have any funny stories about them?

When they were younger they got out of our backyard in Saskatoon early one morning, so I called my mom to come and help me search for them. On her way over, she called me from her cell and told me she knew where they were. People were calling in to the radio station to report two little beagles running around the intersection at Avenue H and 22nd! Thankfully they were safe and I went and got them. When I got to work I was trying to explain to my boss why I was late and it turned out she had heard the calls to the radio as well and assumed it was them because they had been escaping so often.

What activities you do with your dogs?

Runs on the beach, walks on the trails, socializing with other Sarilia dogs, etcetera. Unfortunately, the beagles don’t have as much pep in their step as they used to, so we usually don’t stray too far from home. They do love short walks though and every so often we’ll take them down to the river trails. They are 100% calmer since we moved out to Sarilia from the city. They used to be very anxious would constantly bark and howl at every noise, now they hardly make a peep. They love the quiet and serenity!

Names: Mr. Brooks and Halle
Owners: Georgie & Jared (response from Georgie)

Tell us about your dogs.

Mr. Brooks is a brindle English bulldog. He is now 7 years old and taking up sleeping as a full-time job. He loves taking in the views from our deck and sleeping all over the house! He is very social and not shy about being overweight. He likes to cuddle right up to you—all 70 lbs of him! 😳

Halle is our 11-month-old hanging tree cowdog. She is conveniently name Halle because we adopted her on Halloween. She is a bundle of puppy energy and loves our home and everything it has to offer. She is an avid hiker on the trails and also loves the pasture when we go out to the horses. She is very eager to please and gets very down on herself when she messes up. She loves her buddy Mr. Brooks, but when he is sleeping she plays with our cat Lump.

Names: Teebo (9-year old shih tzu lhasa apso) & Tuskie (9-year-old pug)
Owners: Linda & Mel (response from Linda)

Tell us about your dogs.

Teebo and Tuskie love walks and relaxing with us. They are our babies and they are both spoiled way too much! They enjoy going to the beach and playing in the water. Teebo just puts her paws in, but Tuskie walks right in up to his belly.

Teebo added her own perspective:

“I like squirrels and have been trying to make friends with the ones in our yard for the four years we’ve lived here, but they are still scared of me. My best pal Tuskie is the same age as me but way bigger. He’s a pug and mommy and daddy got him when he was 14 weeks old—just a few weeks after they got me—so we’ve grown up together and are besties.”

Q&A with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners

May 9, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We love seeing all the signs of spring at Sarilia. The robins are out; the crocuses are blooming, creating beautiful patches of purple; and most importantly, the sunshine is drawing everyone out of their houses. Our residents are revelling in the warm weather with sunset drinks on their patios, walks along the river trails, and even stand-up paddle-boarding.

One of the most popular outdoor spring activities here is gardening, and our community garden seems to gain more green thumbs (from experienced to aspiring) every year. We recently chatted with two of Sarilia’s community gardeners, Kathleen and Dennis, to learn about what they’re planning to grow this year, what they’ll make with their fresh produce, and what they like best about gardening as a community.

How long have you been a gardener, and how long have you gardened in Sarilia’s community garden?

Kathleen: Growing up, I helped on the farm with gardening. It was just part of our job to help. I’ve gardened all my life, on and off, depending on where I was living. When I was living in apartments I wasn’t, but otherwise, if I’ve got a house and a yard, I garden.

I’ve gardened at Sarilia since 2012. I didn’t garden in the community garden last year, but I gardened in my yard. However, I found that I couldn’t grow what I wanted on my patio, so I’m going to go back to the community garden this year.

Dennis: I’ve been gardening since I was a child of about eight years old. I’ve gardened at Sarilia’s community garden for three years.

Kathleen & Gwen in the community garden

What are you planning to grow in Sarilia’s community garden this year?

Kathleen: I’m going to grow all the things I need for salsa. And then potatoes, peas, beans, some squash, some other root vegetables, lettuce and that sort of thing. I’ll also grow some flowers for the bees, and marigolds to keep pests away.

Dennis: Potatoes, beets, carrots, Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, white onions, yellow onions, multiplier onions, dill, Swiss chard, yellow beans, green beans, cabbage, garlic, zucchini and some herbs.

What do you make with the food you grow?

Kathleen: I make salsa every year and the veggies and lettuce I eat fresh. Everything else I freeze. Potatoes and Spanish onions I usually keep in the garage where it’s cool and they last well into the spring. I really like having lots of fresh organic stuff on hand.

Dennis: I eat the fresh produce, can pickles, freeze beets and make salsa.

What’s your favourite thing to grow in the garden?

Kathleen: Probably tomatoes because it doesn’t matter how nice they are in the store; you just can’t get a tomato that tastes like a tomato if you buy it. So that would be probably my most favourite. It actually tastes like a tomato when you grow it.

Dennis: Cucumbers, beets and onions.

What have been the benefits of community gardening for you, versus gardening in your own yard?

Kathleen: Absolutely the social aspect. Getting out to see your friends and neighbours. Getting tips and tricks from people. It’s nice to be up there alone, in the quiet, and it’s also nice to be up there and be able to take a break and have somebody to chat with.

It creates a sense of community and I think that’s important. Anything that you can do in a community to create that sense of community is always a win-win.

Dennis: Joint tilling, friendship and sharing produce. It provides time to share different planting techniques and the outcome of the harvest.

The fruits of Dennis’ labour: cucumber

Red onion

Zucchini

Q&A with our new neighbours – Kayla & Chris

February 27, 2017 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Kayla and Chris, along with their daughter, Wren, and their English Mastiff, Gus, are some of our newest neighbours at Sarilia. Hailing from southwest Saskatchewan, they met in high school, were married in 2013, and baby Wren was born last May. We chatted with the busy couple to learn a little bit more about them, and how they’re planning to enjoy spring in the river valley.

What do you both do for a living?
Kayla is a social worker and Chris is a journeyman instrument technician.

How did you first hear about Sarilia?
We Googled “river lots,” and one popped up for sale on Kijiji, so we went for a drive and got the contact information for the developer (Gwen Lepage) while we were out there.

What made you decide to move to Sarilia?
We had talked about getting a cabin and were getting tired of being in the city, so Chris brought up building something on the river to live in full-time and we both felt it would be a great fit for us.

What company did you choose to build your house, and what was the experience like?
We went with D.W. Elash Enterprises, a small company out of Martensville. We had a great experience with our builder. Alanna was very agreeable to work with and she made sure we got what we wanted.

What are you most excited for about spring at Sarilia?
We are looking forward to having our first garden in the community plots!

What do you like to do in your spare time?
There’s not much spare time anymore with a little one running around, but we love to go for walks along the river and are really looking forward to enjoying the beach this summer.

Has moving to Sarilia changed your day-to-day lifestyle at all?
We are definitely more content just being at home and looking out at the amazing views. We never want to go into the city!

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are looking forward to getting to know our neighbours once everyone is outside a little more with the warmer weather.

Q&A with Zak’s Bryant van Kuik

December 22, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

A Zak’s RTM

Sarilia is home to three ready-to-move (RTM) homes built with care by Zak’s, a family owned business that opened its doors in 1996. We chatted with Bryant van Kuik, residential salesman at the company, to learn about why RTMs work so well in the river valley, and what trends he’s noticed in the home building industry.

What is your role at Zak’s?
I have the pleasure of working with customers to design their home and take it right through to completion. This includes floor plan design, architectural design, pricing, blueprints, final selections and warranty walk-throughs.

What home building trends are you noticing among your clients?
We continue to see many units going into lake country – some humble cabins and others very elaborate cottages. More and more people are asking about green alternatives – for example, we have a unit currently on site that has solar panels mounted on the roof.

In general, what were the Sarilia residents looking for in their homes?
The owners of the Sarilia units we have built seemed to have a priority on managing costs while maintaining a high build quality. From there, they certainly all chose/developed plans that took advantage of the fantastic river views that Sarilia affords.

Interior of a Zak’s RTM

What makes an RTM ideal for people moving to Sarilia’s river valley?
RTMs continue to be a great way for people to build homes that are not in major centres near tradespeople. We are able to manage both build cost and timelines very well since we are on site every day and tradespeople do not have extra travel time/cost.

In general, who are your clients?
Our clients tend to be a mix of age groups and life goals. At times, we are building bigger homes for people with growing families – other times we are building lake homes for people who no longer have kids living at home and require less space.

There seems to be a growing interest in tiny homes (homes between 100-400 square feet without a permanent foundation). Are you seeing some of this interest from people who are looking to build houses with a smaller footprints?
To date, the interest in tiny homes has certainly increased – but we have not seen a lot of units end up getting built. I have had conversations with people of all ages – but most do not have kids.

What we are seeing more of is what I might call a trend toward “small homes.” These customers are typically driven by cost of living and a minimal footprint. So rather than build a tiny home, they will build a smaller/more economical home that has a permanent foundation.

Most of these clients seem to be driven by the cost of living and a desire to have money for travel and other priorities – rather than being maxxed out by a mortgage.

What’s the smallest footprint Zak’s has built so far?
To date, our smallest home was a 640-square foot unit.

Q&A with Annette: How does your (community) garden grow?

October 3, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

Sarilia’s community garden is a favourite spot for many residents to socialize, tend to their flowers, veggies and fruits, and learn from one another. We sat down with Sarilia resident, Annette Horvath, to learn what she—and others—grew this year, what flourished, what didn’t, and what she’s learned from her fellow green thumbs.

What did you plant in the community garden this year?
I planted lots of flowers—mostly zinnias—and lots of vegetables too: lots of carrots because they can keep for a long time, peas, potatoes, beans, corn, onions, garlic, the usual.

Garlic and dill in the community garden

Garlic is always such a nice treat in the garden because it keeps for a long time. It takes a little longer to grow. You plant it the season before (at the end of the season) so it’s always amazing to see what comes out and it’s so much better to have fresh garlic from your garden than buying it from the store. The texture is so creamy and the flavour is so much better.

When you have a vegetable soup from your garden, it’s just amazing how much flavour is in the vegetables—it’s so good. I also planted a whole row of beets. We had a few issues with some chipmunks—they are really fat in our garden because we feed them very well. They stole all my beets! (laughs) Just mine. Other people didn’t have problems with that.

A well-fed Sarilia chipmunk

Raspberries were a big thing. My raspberries did very well this year because of the rain. It was really nice to have fruit in the garden. Pretty much everything did quite well. Everybody had a good harvest of peas, beans, carrots, onions, beets, and all the things they planted.

One of our neighbours always plants sunflowers and they’re such a nice addition to the garden too. They’re just such a happy flower and they do so well.

Sunflowers in bloom in Sarilia’s community garden

What are some of the benefits of community gardening?
One of the benefits is that a lot of sharing takes place. One of our neighbours had grown an abundant amount of kale. I didn’t know this, but when you pick kale, it grows back. You don’t pick it from the root, so it keeps on giving back, week after week. She had so much more than she could use, and luckily the chipmunks didn’t like the kale, so they stayed away. We tried making so many different things—like salads and kale chips, and I juiced a lot and now I’ve frozen it to use it for smoothies.

We also have some extra room in the garden that nobody has claimed yet, so we grow pumpkins and potatoes, and we share them with our neighbours if there’s extra. And of course zucchini. There’s always more zucchini than we need, but that’s kind of nice.

Have you learned any lessons from your neighbours who you garden alongside?
Always. You’re always learning, because nothing is ever the same. It’s always different from year to year and it’s so interesting to find out what other people are growing that’s working for them.

One of our neighbours plants a lot of garlic, tomatoes, and hot peppers. It’s always interesting to see the different coloured peppers in his garden—from green, orange, yellow, red and even a very dark aubergine colour. I imagine a lot of them are really hot. He’s even grown habaneros (not in our community garden, but at his house). So it’s like a salsa garden where you grow all the ingredients yourself to make an amazing tomato sauce or salsa.

My garden is such a small part of it because it’s such a community effort. I really like wandering through other people’s gardens and enjoying what they’re growing. The sharing of the harvest is always kind of special—when somebody says, “here, I grew this, you gotta try it.” Just seeing what they grow and thinking, “well, I can do that next year.”

Have you planted anything new this year that you’d never tried before?

Jerusalem artichoke potatoes

We planted Jerusalem artichoke potatoes, which we’ve never had before. It’s like a gourmet potato. They don’t look like a traditional potato plant. They grow into this beautiful, tall flower that looks similar to a sunflower, but they’re small flowers. They grow over six-feet tall. The idea is to harvest the tubers after the frost, so that they’re a little bit easier to digest. It must bring out the sugars in the tuber. We haven’t tried them yet, because we haven’t had very many frosts yet, but we’re going to try them soon. You can roast and cook them like a potato, so we’re looking forward to trying those.

Zinnias in bloom

I talked one of my neighbours into growing zinnias. She tried out different varieties than I did. They’re very hardy flowers and they’re beautiful. To me, they’re a little bit like a gerber daisy, but they have vibrant colours and come in different varieties. Some are really big, some are like pom-poms, and they flower all summer long—so that’s a really nice flower for the garden. And the bees really are attracted to them.

Do you have any favourite recipes for your garden veggies?
A lot of times, if I’m making a vegetable soup, I make it up as I go. I know some people really like recipes because they get consistency and they make the same thing over and over again, but a lot of the time I just clean up a whole bunch of vegetables, throw them in a pot, and see what comes out! For pumpkin pie I usually find a recipe, and I don’t normally use the same one all the time. I check my old church parish books—I’ve got a lot of of old ones—because those are tried and true.

One of Annette’s favourite pumpkin pie recipes

Aerial footage of Sarilia’s river valley community

September 12, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

We’re excited to share Sarilia’s newest video, which features aerial footage of our river valley community. From the beautiful homes, to the community garden, the pasture and the picturesque North Saskatchewan River right at our doorstep, it truly is a vibrant village. You’ll notice some homes are nestled within the trees, while others offer sweeping views of the river — either way, Sarilia residents have an idyllic connection with nature. Enjoy!

Sarilia’s new “garden park”

August 24, 2016 Julie Barnes Leave a comment

This summer, we added a mini playground next to our community garden. Its creation was a group effort by Sarilia residents and our families. I am very grateful to see so many people come together and offer their time and talent to improve our community.

In the past, the kids at Sarilia had to go to Langham if they wanted to visit a playground. Now, they can visit one just steps from home. Its proximity to the community garden means that parents can garden while their children play nearby. And it turns out the kids aren’t calling it a playground—they ask their parents: “Can we go to the garden park?”

Whenever I go to do some gardening, I check out the playground and love seeing all the tiny footprints in the sand. It makes me super happy that we’ve built something together as a community that puts smiles on our kids’ faces. It was time well spent and thank you again to everyone who helped out.

— Gwen

Construction day

Swing set installation

Playground & sandbox

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