Gardens win community service award

South DeKalb's Wonderland Gardens picked up a Community Service Award last month from the county.

Sheldon Fleming, the garden's founder, was one of 10 individuals and organizations recognized for their community service. Wonderland Gardens, which is located on the old Mathis Dairy property on Rainbow Drive, teaches adults and children about gardening and native vegetation. It has outdoor classrooms and a range of gardens dedicated to different plantings. Schoolchildren learn organic gardening and appreciation for the environment there.

Wonderland Gardens was recently designated a Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) site. Children participating in the GLOBE project gather scientific data for project scientists and learn how to interpret that data while working with other students around the world.

Wonderland Gardens plans to honor George Washington Carver on the site. Carver was an African-American scientist, artist and agriculturist, horticulturist and chemist. The gardens used a $10,000 South DeKalb arts grant to buy a 7-foot iron sculpture depicting Carver's agriculture pursuits. Fleming said the sculpture will be installed in a permanent location in the spring.