If you turn down Lanny Bridges Avenue and follow it beyond Walmart, you run into Burgess Lane. The land remains a friend of nature, trees and vines grown along the roadside. You could happily get lost there for a while and revel in the peaceful serenity exuded by your surroundings.
“This property has a soothing, healing feel to it,” said Ellen Weedman, local entrepreneur and rescue activist. “I think that’s part of what drew people to the shop, even when it wasn’t open!
“I came home one day and found a random letter stuck to the door. Someone said, ‘I think your property saved my life. I sat by your pond for about 30 minutes and I feel renewed.’”
Her father bought the land from the county in the 1950s to join with the back acreage of her grandfather’s land off Highway 59 West. Its tranquility lent the perfect atmosphere for Weedman’s Rose Garden for 35 years. The shop, although off the beaten path, serviced more than the surrounding area in Tipton County, including the cities of Germantown and Collierville, and proved a fixture in more than flora.
“There was no revolving door at the Rose Garden,” Weedman said. “The folks who worked there became part of my family, just like I became part of theirs.”
Flowers and friendships grew in her barn-turned-shop until it closed after the death of Weedman’s brother around Thanksgiving 2008. His passing and her in-laws’ move into a nearby assisted living facility prompted Weedman to devote more time to her family, which meant the Rose Garden shuttered.
“John [Weedman’s husband] always supports me and any endeavour I undertake,” she said. “It seemed time for me to pay back some of that devotion.”
Still, Weedman’s energies called for an additional outlet: Flowers, family, and soon added, fur babies.
Sarah Sullivan started what became Covington Animal Rescue Efforts (CARE) in 2009. Weedman attended one meeting and soon dove straight into the cause. A lifelong animal lover, she and the volunteers with CARE do what they can to help the residents of the Covington animals shelters to find the love and furever homes they deserve.
Sullivan moved from the area a few years later and the operation of CARE became the responsibility of Weedman and a core group of members. The organization runs without a defined hierarchy; instead, it is a collection of like-minded individuals with a common goal. Each possesses a particular speciality she brings to the group: Kim Kellum handles adoption and helps to pair people and pooches; Lee Riley balances the fostered animals and their statuses; Teresa Duvall works with Jeremy Clayton’s Full of Sit on the Paws in Prison program.
Weedman? She puts her business experience and property’s familiarity to use with fundraising events for the group.
Veterinarians provide a rate to help doctor the animals cared for by CARE, but the expenses still run into thousands of dollars per month. The group, as a rule, will not accept grandiose donations from citizens’ businesses. These fundraisers help offset those costs.
“We started off with a yard sale for five or six years,” Weedman said, “but there were a few complications. For one, I’m not a morning person!
“The other, more pressing issue, though, was space. People would bring items a month or more in advance! Even with the barn, I ran out of places to put things. People even tried to shop off my front porch!”
Alternatives soon came, and allowed Weedman to indulge in two of her addictions: Dogs and gardening. She suggested a garden tour around the grounds of the Rose Garden, CARE’s “Walk Through the Garden,” now in its third year. Duvall and her husband cater the event. Weedman, in addition to her hostess duties, also opens a small gift shop for guests to visit to take home mementos of the garden and the dogs.
The CARE Cannery also helps supplement the group’s budget. What started as a way for Weedman to handle her garden’s excess production became a fundraising event.
CARE also became the chosen 501(c)(3) organization of Tipton-Rosemark Academy for the year. The academy will continue to donate to the rescue program for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year.
While Weedman would love a no-kill shelter to become a reality, she cannot ignore the truth. Some dogs are overly aggressive and never respond to training, no matter the amount of time invested. Others are too ill and will never enjoy a worthy quality of life. That does not mean she and CARE will not try.
In fact, Weedman houses nine dogs herself (though you could never tell from the tidiness of her home). Some tend to remain outside, not yet quite comfortable with the confines of the house. Momo, a beagle, will bay for her breakfast and sit beside Weedman but still refuses to come in on her own, even after a year and a half.
Others take time: Ham Bone, a hound, spent years in a specially-constructed dog house on the front porch. He stayed there, separated from the family, until Weedman herself went into the house and sat with him. While still shy – he howled and stared me down for the better part of an hour – Ham Bone makes sure his mama is safe and will not stray too far until he is satisfied. I am proud to say he and I made friends by the end of my visit!
Then, we come to the special type who will do as pleased: Honey, the CARE ambassador, or the Houdini of the household and a decade-long resident. Honey escaped 15 times in her first three days at Weedman’s. Collars, choke chains, fences: She would slip, break, or simply leap over any obstacle.
“John and I decided to replace our old wooden fence with an iron one a while ago,” Weedman said. “The contractor swore she would never jump over it.
“Well, Honey sat and looked at it. She studied it and took off! She would have cleared it if I hadn’t grabbed her at the last minute!”
Honey remains on house arrest with supervised yard visits and seems content to spend her time on her end of the couch.
CARE’s Walk Through the Garden will take place April 27 with a rain date of May 4. You can also support the group at the Brighton High School Master Gardeners show on April 1. Visit www.covingtonanimalrescueeffort.com to see how else you can help CARE’s mission.
Making a Difference Every Day is a series of stories through which The Leader is intentionally sharing the stories of everyday unsung heroes. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured, please send an email to news@covingtonleader.com
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