By Sherrie Eddington
Melissa Batts blew on her cold fingers, stood up, stretched her back and then crouched back down to drop the daffodil bulb in her 8-inch hole.
Batts was one of about 350 BYU students who showed up last month to help pull out old flowers and plant new ones on and around Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Her student ward brought 40 people to help out with the big job.
'It was kind of cool to see how much hard work goes into it,' said Batts, a 20-year-old special education major from Beulaville, N.C. 'It made me really grateful for all the people who volunteer their time up there to make it look so pretty.'
Every spring and fall, the Temple Square gardens get a facelift completed mostly by volunteer manpower. Students and others clear out all the previous season''s flowers and then plant the upcoming seasonal flowers.
Christina Vaillancourt, Batts'' ward service committee co-chairperson, said one of the reasons she chose this project was for the benefit of seeing the end result in the spring when all the flowers come up. Another reason she gave was the missionary spirit students are able to be part of.
'It was a neat feeling to help with something that represents the church so specifically,? said Vaillancourt, who is a nursing student in her senior year. ?When people think of the church, they think of Salt Lake. You''re helping the missionaries because they are seeing this beautiful place that we take care of so well.'
Eldon Cannon, the group manager of Grounds Services at Temple Square, said the visitors do indeed notice. He told a story about meeting a woman from New York on the square who had been asking directions of volunteer workers.
'She looked at us and said, ''What is it about you people, you''re all so happy! I?ve just been so impressed at how clean everything is and the attitude of everyone,''' Cannon said, referring to the woman. 'She was just kind of set back on her heels.'
David Miller, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering and Russian and another ward member, noticed the project?s face value.
'Through the course of being a member of the church and being actively involved in Scouts, I''ve probably served more in other people''s gardens than I have in my own garden,' Miller said. 'There''s no difference between serving in a widow''s garden or a garden on Temple Square. In both cases, they''re a valuable service that is needed, and church members are very willing to provide.'
Under the direction of service missionaries called ?garden guides? and a few full-time staff members, the 40 volunteers from Batts? ward planted about 2,800 bulbs and 2,300 above-ground plants in less than three hours.
Temple Square workers said they look forward to seeing the BYU wards.
?The thing that stands out in my mind is the stick-to-itiveness of the BYU groups who come up,? Cannon said. ?They still want to have more work to do, and we say ?thank you very much, good-bye.??
Jan Stevens has been volunteering as a part-time service missionary on Temple Square for nine years and was also enthusiastic about seeing students crawling around in the flowerbeds.
?How much fun they have working together!? Stevens said. ?They work steadily, but they talk the whole time. They?re so impressive ? they?re so obedient and so conscientious of making sure they?re doing the job right. We all pray to have BYU groups come.?