It’s no secret that New Carlisle’s roads have seen better days, as gaping chuckholes inhabit most of the city’s streets. An emerging summer trend, however, has started to reverse the ugliness of these prodigious chuckholes — and save lives as well.
Photo by Pete Dungey via petedungey.com
New Carlisle resident Joy McElwain, 59, has taken to the chuckhole-ridden streets armed with some soil, seeds, and a wheelbarrow’s worth of positivity.
“I just got tired of seeing all these chuckholes being ignored year after year. They are only getting worse, and no one seems interested in fixing them,” said McElwain.
McElwain has planted flowers in over a dozen chuckholes in town, and the results have been a breath of fresh air in the community. She is urging others to join her in planting flowers in all of New Carlisle’s chuckholes, a practice she says not only looks good, but can help save lives as well.
“Obviously we want to plant the flowers because they make the town look better, because those chuckholes sure are a nasty sight. But we are also tired of people falling into chuckholes and breaking bones and having heart attacks from the surprise,” said McElwain, citing several complaints she has received from neighbors who have fallen into chuckholes. “And cars who hit those things can be damaged big time. Not to mention these wild motorcycle kids who fly up and down the streets. If they hit a chuckhole, they’re done for. No one deserves to get killed by a chuckhole, not even biker kids.”
Where does McElwain see this trend going?
“My next step is to start planting vegetables and fruit trees in the chuckholes. Then I will harvest the food and give it to the needy here in town. As of right now I intend to plant corn on Drake, beans on Brookfield, carrots on Spinning, and some orange trees up and down Greenheart. I really feel like these chuckholes are a blessing in disguise.”