Pictured above left to right is Shirley Loomer, Yard of the Month for August, Cheney Kiwanis Club representative Pat Isbell and Cheney Garden Club representative Karen Smith.
Cheney's Shirley Loomer summation of her yard, named the August Yard of the Month by the Cheney Garden and Kiwanis clubs, is pretty succinct.
"I don't have a yard, I have a park," she said last Thursday.
At 180 feet long by 125 feet wide, at total of 22,500 square feet, it indeed resembles a small park, something many would have a hard time maintaining. The 90-year-old Loomer does pretty good on her own however, having recently just purchased a new John Deere riding mower.
She said she also gets help from a man living in one of the former Air Force housing duplexes across from her home at 116 Erie Street, who comes over now and then and mows for free, although Loomer said she will reimburse him when he does other chores for her.
Loomer's family moved to the home when she was 3, and it's been in the family ever since. The home used to be surrounded by farmland, and Loomer can point out locations of various other farmers and farm structures that existed there years ago.
Now, the house is bordered by several apartment buildings to the south, which will be added to eventually when the duplex homes are removed for the Parkside Commons student-housing complex.
Loomer receives a $25 gift certification from Jarms Ace Hardware in being selected Yard of the Month.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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