Site last updated: Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Log In

Reset Password
Butler County's great daily newspaper

Garden grows through work of volunteers

From left, Kimberly Morris, Carrie Vardi and Kelly Mikita chat about gardening during Saturday's planting of a community garden where Worsley's once stood at 161 N. Main St.

Kelly Mikita didn't want the site where Worsley's once stood to sit empty all summer, so she decided to do something about it.

On Saturday, Mikita of Butler Township led the planting of a community garden at 161 N. Main St., where the Worsley's building caught fire in March 2016 and was later demolished.

“It was a spot where something pretty significant in a negative way happened in the community, and I thought it would just be kind of sad to leave it just be grass or mud this year,” she said.

Mikita, who works with Butler Downtown, was given approval to plant the garden by the Worsley family, who owns the lot. Mikita said the garden is being done entirely through volunteer work.

Dirt, mulch and palettes were donated, and Mikita said Saturday morning that she expected between 100 and 150 volunteers for the event, which began at 8 a.m. and ran into the afternoon.

“It's just amazing,” Mikita said. “Just from word of mouth things have gotten so big.”

The garden will be available to all who partake in its creation or upkeep. It will feature pansies and forget-me-not flowers, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, brussels sprouts, and basil and tine herbs.

Read more in Sunday's edition of the Butler Eagle.

To view a video about this event, visit www.facebook.com/butlereaglenews

More in Digital Media Exclusive

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS