Vegreville garden volunteers grow long-term friendships

Kindness and conversation bloom alongside flowers and vegetables

Story by Jonathan Koch | Photo by Elizabeth Myhovich

VEGREVILLE — Denise Komick began volunteering about seven years ago when her mother, Annette Bienvenue, was a long-term care resident in Vegreville Care Centre. The duo regularly played dice and card games with the residents in Annette’s continuing care unit.

They also struck up a friendship with a newly arrived resident, Orest Marusak.

“Everybody was pretty friendly with my mom, she knew most of them and they would come to my mom’s room, and they would play dice together, and that's how I got to know Orest,” says Komick. “Our family kind of took him under our wings.”

Following Annette’s passing in 2017, Kornick continued to volunteer at the care centre, along with her long-time friend Marian Lemiski, a volunteer at the centre since 2016. When the call went out for assistance to water and maintain the facility’s flower and vegetable gardens on weekends, the friends jumped in to help.

“They are very dependable volunteers, and not just with gardening, but any program we need them for,” says recreation therapy assistant Tammy Eleniak.

The duo also received a helping hand from their friend, Marusak, the keeper of the watering key for his unit’s patio. Through his participation in gardening and other programming, Eleniak says he developed quite the trust for the ladies.

“They kind of got into Orest’s heart and they're really close — they're quite cute,” she adds.

For Marusak, working with the “Watering Ladies” to deadhead flowers, pick tomatoes and water the garden brings back fond memories of his mother and the garden and trees they tended on the family farm many years ago.

However, it’s the patio visits that he enjoyed the most this past season.

“We talk about more than gardening, we try to solve the problems of the world, sometimes until midnight,” says Marusak.

More than once, they’ve been outside so late that staff have forgotten they’re here.

“They turn off the lights and lock the doors on us,” says Marusak. “We would just laugh then knock on the windows to get their attention, the staff will join in the laughs with us, and then the girls will go home, and I go to bed.”

Marian Lemiski enjoys reminiscing with Marusak and Kornick about the good old days of Vegreville’s past.

“We talk about farming, like when we used to move cows, and there used to be the creameries where you took your cream to town, and we talk about all kinds of things,” she says.

Recreation therapist Shae-Lynn Illingworth says it noticeably brightens Marusak’s day to chat with the pair, adding that the other residents also enjoy their company when they come to volunteer.

“The residents love them. The ladies are just so positive and always very chatty with them, they know their names, know who they are,” says Illingworth. “They're amazing. They're awesome.”

“Both ladies have huge, huge hearts,” Eleniak adds. “They are the type of people that if somebody needs something, they're going to be there. The amount of love that these ladies share with everyone is amazing - they are angels.”

Thanks in large part to the trio’s efforts, the facility’s residents enjoyed a bounty of strawberries and fresh produce throughout the growing season, culminating in a harvest meal in the fall, with garden-grown veggies such as celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and onions on the menu.

Volunteer resources coordinator Eli Myhovich says AHS volunteers are making a positive difference in the lives of the people they serve.

“AHS volunteers provide companionship and support to our residents, which enhances their emotional well-being and overall quality of life,” says Myhovich. "In turn, it also enriches the lives of our volunteers through personal growth, meaningful connections, and provides them with a deep sense of purpose and satisfaction.”

Although fall has arrived the gardening has come to an end, their visits will continue indoors throughout the winter months, something Marusak says he’s truly grateful for.

“Denise and Marian, I look forward to your visits, you are here when I’m lonely,” he adds. “Thank you for your friendship, time and love.”