A walk around the neighborhood turns into an opportunity to act on the best feelings for Shaker Heights in an earthy way.
By Zach Lewis
Photos by Jason Miller
Technically, Elizabeth Goodwin is a trespasser. No one, though, is about to object.
On the contrary. In the eyes of Shaker Heights and the City’s Recreation Department, Goodwin is a hero, one who takes a needed public task upon herself and performs it with flair.
Driven purely by pride in Shaker Heights, Goodwin spends her summers voluntarily maintaining a garden bed at the Farnsleigh Road entrance to Thornton Park, planting and watering a variety of shrubs and flowers entirely at her own expense. “Shaker is a premier community,” Goodwin says. “I’m proud of it, and I want other residents to take pride in it, too.”
It’s a great way to meet the people walking by.
Pride was not what Goodwin felt when she first spotted the Farnsleigh Rd. site three summers ago. While out for a walk during the pandemic, she noticed the bed near her home had been neglected. Instead of shrubs and flowers, there were thistles and other weeds three feet tall. It was ugly. “It looked like a jungle from ‘Jurassic Park,’” Goodwin recalls.
Many, in Goodwin’s shoes, would have called the City to complain. She, though, sprang to action. She returned to the lot with paper yard-waste bags, gardening tools, and a few trays of flowers and promptly brought the space up to standard.
She committed to more than planting, too. Every warm day that summer, Goodwin returned to the site to care for the plants, sprinkling them with water from tubs in the trunk of her car.
Three years later, she’s still at it, and enjoying more than ever the impromptu conversations this unusual activity sparks. “It’s a great way to meet the people walking by,” Goodwin says. “People are really nice. I’m not doing it for the appreciation, but it is kind of cool when people notice.”
To be clear: Goodwin isn’t in the habit of fixing up public spaces. On her list of charitable deeds, which to date has mostly entailed church work, her Farnsleigh Road beautification project stands alone.
Neither is she an especially avid gardener. Goodwin devotes perhaps more time than most to her backyard, which abuts Thornton Park property, but she’s strictly an amateur. By day, she’s a therapist. She couldn’t tell you much about the lovely yellow flowers she planted this year beyond the fact that they’re annuals and will need to be pulled and replaced next year.
What she can share is the insight she’s gained from the effort: Namely, that it’s easy to give back to the community when you’ve found the right outlet. “People just need to do something they enjoy,” Goodwin says. “That way it feels like joy, not an obligation. There are plenty of things that need to be done.”
That’s not the only lesson Goodwin has learned. To her relief, she’s also found that when you’re doing the right thing, such as beautifying City property, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. “I feel better now that I’m doing it with the City’s blessing,” Goodwin said. “I’m no longer trespassing. The City is very appreciative.”
