Planting seeds of hope

Roy White ('58) is a man of faith, compassion and understanding. The son of a Cape Breton coal miner who had a Grade 2 education but instilled values in his nine children, Roy graduated from Mount A and was ordained as a United Church minister in 1960.

Last year, Roy worked with friends to renovate a rundown horseshoe pit near the ball fields at the Springfield Lake Recreation Centre in Middle Sackville. He helped get materials donated, coerced a group of men into lending a hand, and today they gather at least weekly to compete with each other. They’ve visited and hosted other horseshoe tossers.

This year, this same group, led by Roy, took on a new project. They decided to plant a 90-foot by 30-foot garden behind the horseshoe pit to provide some potatoes for Feed Nova Scotia. The garden was created with donated materials, volunteer labour and dedication.

He told the naysayers the garden project was good for meditation, an opportunity for exercise to get rid of any feelings of sadness, and it enabled each and every person to help change the world, and of course to be altruistic, to show an unselfish interest in others.

Volunteers have tended the garden all summer and within a week or so will harvest the crop.

Read full story: Roy's planting seeds of hope (The Chronicle Herald)