It was a supposed to be a surprise. But once the presentation started, not much chance of that. The Rotary Club of Carmel gave out its annual, super-special award recently to a worthy member of our community who is not a member of its club. It is called a “ROSA” taken from the acronym which stands for Rotary Outstanding Service Award. This year, sitting in the crowd under the ruse of accompanying friend Tricia Reynolds to a luncheon as a guest, Marcia Roberts joined a select group of people from Carmel who exhibit “Service Above Self.”
Marcia Roberts has played a key role behind the idea and execution of a community garden. Now up and running, Plots to Plates is a growing success and open to all Carmel residents. It inspires sustainable living while at the same time promoting a sense of connection for people who use it. More than just a community garden there are plans for it to be a community gathering area as well. The vision includes not only the plots, but picnic tables and benches and a possible staging area. The existing playground will remain, which will make a nice retreat when those little gardeners need a break.
But the garden is really just a representation of Marcia’s entire body of work. As chair of the Carmel Clay Schools Green Team for the past two years, her fingerprints are on many more projects geared toward a healthier environment. I asked her what the award meant to her. She said, “It is nice for our group to get a stamp of approval from a well-respected group like the Rotary. But my initial reaction was somewhat reserved because there are so many people who have made the CCS Green Team a success. This is a shared award.”
But Marcia is not ready to sit back and let others do the work. She still has goals she would like to see come to fruition. She said, “Elementary and middle school kids are passionate about sustainable living but we do not have Green Teams in all schools yet. We need that.” I could relate when she said she is still pulling recyclables out of the garbage, lamenting the need to increase the number of items that can be recycled at the schools. “There is lots more to be done but we are off to a great start.” Yes you are!