Since the Lake Placid News interviewed Bixler in the spring during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic about the community’s beautification efforts, this time it was decided to speak with a Garden Club official. Below is part of the phone conversation Editor Andy Flynn had with Brown on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

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LPN: How many years have you been doing the Green Thumb Awards?

Brown: Well, this is my second year. Last year, Linda Friedlander was president, and that January I had sent in several suggestions, not only the Green Thumb (Awards), you know other things. And I was surprised when I put in a suggestion, and then I was on the committee.

So Cherise and I did it last year and then this year. I found it fascinating. It’s really been fun to see the different gardens and to look at the different areas of Lake Placid and what people have done with their gardens. And sometimes relatively simple things are just so attractive. The effort to me is important. I don’t care if it’s a pot of flowers, just something to make this area more beautiful.

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LPN: You selected 10 properties for this award. How many properties did you look at?

Brown: We only had a few suggestions. We had asked people from the Garden Club to send in suggestions. … A lot of this was either walking around or driving around. They had to be visible from the road. I’m sure there are some amazing back yards that we never saw. My husband and I now walk the hills of Hillcrest. We walk over past Hurley’s. We tried to avoid downtown the last few months. And, of course, I live on Signal Hill so I see a lot. The number, I really don’t know, but a lot.

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LPN: Did you notice any difference between this year and last year? Did COVID actually bring more people into their gardens?

Brown: I think so. I would say last year we definitely had 10 excellent winners, and we had some that probably should have been. We had 10 runners up. Actually, I think we had about 18 or 20 that could have been runners up. Cherise was very emphatic that we were trying not to give another Green Thumb to somebody who had just won or who had been repeatedly recognized.

… That was probably the most interesting to me because there were some people who I don’t think had ever been recognized and were thrilled. And they should be. Some people work very hard. …

The garden centers, I think, were overwhelmed with requests for both plants and for soil and various things one needs. My husband and I were over in Vermont at a big garden center right near the Essex-Charlotte ferry, and I asked the man, “Have you been busy?” He just looked at me with this blank stare. He said, “Oh my gosh, it’s been like our best year in years. We’ve run out of plants.” … So yes, I think as people have had time and couldn’t take vacations … they worked in their gardens.

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LPN: Was there any one of these 10 that really stood out for you?

Brown: Well, I’ve always loved the little horseshoe cottage right on Mirror Lake. My husband and I walk that every day, it seems. That’s just charming to me.

I’d never noticed the one on Grandview. They have done a lovely job. I think the two that kind of stood out to me were the one on Hurley, and Danielle (Bishop) was just charming. She talked about the house. It was an old house, 1897 I think. … It had been owned by two sisters for 60 years … and she thought George Stevens had originally built it and she wondered if it was even for workers at their hotel because it was right near the train station. … That really stood out for me because of her enthusiasm about her garden.

… The other was on Winter Street. What caught my attention was the canoe. I first went by it in the car in early August, and this canoe was out front with a huge amount of marigolds and it was just so bright and cheery. It’s right on a corner.

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LPN: How about you? Do you have a garden at home?

Brown: Yes. In fact my husband, when we first moved up here right after his father died, which was in 2002, we didn’t want to buy his house. So Rick said, “Why don’t we buy one of the condos, you know, Harbor condos?” I said, “Well, I need a garden. You like to be on the water, but I need a garden.” So we do have a place, and I have a garden. And my garden is not necessarily a planned, incredible garden. I mean, I think some of it is very nice and others I consider my work garden. I see what grows and what doesn’t.

PODCAST: Listen to a portion of this interview on the “We are Lake Placid” podcast. Find links to the audio at https://www.lakeplacidnews.com/news/local-news/2020/10/06/we-are-lake-placid-faith-brown-garden-club-of-lake-placid/.