Parker Burt and Haven Seckinger, who were Bothwell Middle School students at the time, plant flowers like marigolds, ageratum, dusty miller and strawberry begonias along South Front Street in Marquette as part of 2018’s Petunia Pandemonium, spearheaded by the Marquette Beautification & Restoration Committee Inc. The 33rd annual event will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday on the west side of U.S. 41 between Furnace and Genesee streets. (Journal file photo by Christie Bleck)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Beautification & Restoration Committee Inc., is asking for volunteers for the 33rd annual planting of Petunia Pandemonium, which will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday on the west side of U.S. 41 between Furnace and Genesee streets.

“When you go into a city for the first time, impressions are extremely important,” said Barb Kelly, Petunia Pandemonium chairperson.

In Marquette’s case, visitors will be met by a collection of color and flowers as they head into the city from the south.

“It just makes people happy and it makes them smile and it sends a strong message that our community really cares about itself,” Kelly said.

The traffic lane closest to the planting bed will be closed and safety vests are available for all planters. MBRC indicated the flower beds have been prepared and the soil has been amended to nourish the thousands of colorful annuals that will brighten the southern gateway to Marquette for five months.

Also, flowers will be placed on the planting beds and be ready to place in the loose, healthy soil.

Volunteers are encouraged to wear old clothes and shoes and bring a trowel for digging, said the MBRC, which recommended sunscreen, hats and gloves. Safety vests will be handed out in front of McCabe’s Quality Flooring and extra trowels will be available at that site. The MBRC said temperatures are predicted to be warm and bottled water will be available at McCabe’s.

The planting will take about an hour. Youths and seniors alike can participate since the committee pointed out that volunteers in previous plantings have ranged in age from 2 to 93.

Volunteers are advised to stay off the curb and out of the road and to work from the curb inward, facing the traffic.

Although flowers will be placed in the ground, the post-planting picnic will not be held this year.

Area youths, though, will be involved. Kelly said seventh-graders from Bothwell Middle School will help with planting on Friday.

Petunia Pandemonium has beautified Marquette’s gateway and garnered many awards from sources including Keep Michigan Beautiful, Inc., Midwest Living Magazine, and the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association. The committee is assisted by the city of Marquette with lane closures and a portion of the expense.

The project lasts for five months and includes water that the committee buys, soil preparation, plants from the Harvey-based Nagelkirk nursery, mulch, weeding, fertilizing and plant removal in October. All the grass from Furnace Street to the roundabout area is mowed weekly and fertilized.

The project originally focused on petunias but has been diversified to include a variety of annual flowers.

The committee participates in the Adopt-A-Highway program and controls litter for eight-tenths of a mile from Furnace Street to Father Marquette Park. The committee also plants and maintains the park’s garden.

Because of COVID-19, committee members in 2020 planted Petunia Pandemonium flowers themselves wearing masks and welcome this return to normalcy and community engagement again, the MRBC said. Volunteers this year are welcome to wear masks, but they will not be required.

The committee was unable to hold fundraisers in 2020 but will host its annual Garden Tour this summer.

Tax-deductible contributions supporting the committee’s efforts can be mailed to MBRC, P.O. Box 334, Marquette, MI 49855, or donated at mqtbeautification.org.

This year marks the last Petunia Pandemonium for a while. The MBRC said South Front Street between Furnace Street and the roundabout will be redesigned in the summer of 2022, so there will be no flower planting. The $80,000 irrigation system installed by the committee will be largely destroyed, but fundraising efforts will be initiated to re-establish the necessary water infrastructure to make the plants flourish.

For more information, call Kelly at 906-225-5077.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net