STEUBEN CO., N.Y. — Cornell Cooperative Extension of Steuben County met Bath Mayor Michael Sweet on Friday, March 25 at the Haverling Street property that is designated to become a town park to hand over the check for $16,594.69 that they raised during their FLXGives campaign for 2021 – Betty’s Dream. Betty Langendorfer was a Master Gardener at CCE Steuben for many years. The property, which was Betty’s former home, is expected to  include a dog park and a parking lot. CCE Steuben created a partnership with the Village to also build a teaching pavilion and permaculture garden on that space for their one day giving campaign.

All eight of Betty’s children showed up in Bath on campaign day to rally the troops for the project. They shared multiple stories of their childhood playing on that property. They shared the background of how their father helped the Mossy Bank Park get its start, and now their mother’s legacy would remain in this Haverling Street property. Some of the Langendorfer children will return this Friday for the check delivery.

CCE Steuben created videos of 4-H members who love gardening and of a current Master Gardener who is an occupational therapist at the Bath VA Center. Incidentally Betty had also worked at the Bath VA as an occupational therapist. There were fun stories about the family’s donkey named Nancy that used to bring up the tail of the annual Steuben County parade and that grazed on that Haverling Street property. These videos are available at  https://bit.ly/thestorybehindbettysdream.

Executive Director Tess McKinley says, “It was a pleasure to raise the money in Betty’s memory, and we look forward to educating 4-H children and the public on gardening with this pavilion and garden space.”

For more information on this event and other CCE-Steuben projects and programs, visit PutKnowledgeToWork.org or call 607-664-2300.

–Cornell Cooperative Extension Steuben County