CRANBERRY TWP - Life presents problems. The trick is to turn those problems into great solutions.

Charlotte Kaltenbaugh is doing just that by participating next week in the Parade of Ponds fund-raising event.

Each family with a garden on the tour has named a charitable cause to benefit from the tour, with 10 charities named.

For Kaltenbaugh, the garden began with a problem mound of dirt about 30 feet high and 60 feet in diameter in her backyard. The mound was left over from the construction of the neighborhood.

The personal aspect was about finding a way to do something nice for LAS St. John Specialty Care Center as the staff there had done when Kaltenbaugh's mother was a resident in the facility.

Since removing the earth in the backyard by earthmover was prohibitively expensive, the Kaltenbaughs called in a landscape architect for ideas. "'Work with the hill. Use it. You need a waterfall," Kaltenbaugh said of the architect's advice.

Describing herself as a "reluctant pond owner" at best, Kaltenbaugh's idea of a backyard water feature was something small that produced the sound of splashing water, like a birdbath or small fountain. "He educated me," she said.

Inside the house with an infant under watchful eye, Kaltenbaugh wasn't watching the initial digging work in the backyard. "I looked out and there was a gorge coming down the hill and a big hole in the yard. I was thinking Niagara Falls and Lake Kaltenbaugh," she admitted with a laugh.

The finished cascade trips lightly from the top of the hill to bottom, providing a bevy of brook babbles. The small stream tinkles pleasantly into a medium small pond filled with koi, most of which were born on the spot.

Off to one side and at the bottom of the mound, a section of hillside was terraced with landscaping timbers and planted with a variety of perennials. The view from the mother-in-law apartment on the bottom level of the house is directed toward the terraced garden.

Another segment is an alpine meadow, naturalized with Queen Anne's lace and clumps of daisies. A sibilant curve was crafted from the top of the hill to the bottom of the garden, perfect for sledding in winter. "We call it the luge run," she explained.

A wooden play center sits atop the truncated mound. Decks jutting out from the main floor of the home connect with the summit-climbing footpaths by way of the bridge.

"Everybody loves the bridge. You come out here and hear the water, and your heart rate just drops" as the sounds relieve stress. "When we have guests, they stand on the bridge and look into the pond. The kids play on it with games like Billy Goats Gruff."

For Kaltenbaugh, LAS St. John Specialty Care Center was a bridge to span one part of her mother's life with another. After open-heart surgery and a debilitating stroke, Philomena Krashel became a resident of the facility.

"They cared for the entire family the entire time she was there," said Kaltenbaugh, who has two children with her husband Donald.

Kaltenbaugh's mother

was a resident on the Alzheimer's wing for about two years. Her son Brandon was one month old when his grandmother checked into St. John's. The staff celebrated his first birthday with a full-blown party.

"Family is the most important thing to me," said Kaltenbaugh. "I'm a nurse and I've been involved with very few organizations that are truly caring and do everything to support the family."

"You can make monetary donations and go to fundraisers (for favorite charities) but I wanted to do something more" for St. John's, she said. "To have people come and see the garden and for the community to lend support or become aware of St. John's, that's the best of both worlds."

<b>WHAT:</b> Parade of Ponds self-guided tour to benefit Contact Pittsburgh, Cranberry Public Library, VOICe women's shelter, Mars Public Library, MOMS Club, North Hills YMCA, NorthWay Christian Community Church, Sierra Club Allegheny Chapter, St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church and LAS St. John's Specialty Care Center<b>WHEN:</b> 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday a<b>WHERE:</b> North Hills, Cranberry Township and Butler<b>COST:</b> $20 will allow family access to 15 sites on both days<b>FOR INFORMATION:</b> Barbara Reck at LAS St. John Speciality Care Center, 724-625-4790. Tickets are also available at Mars and Cranberry libraries, St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church, NorthWay Christian Community Church and Sorgel's Nursery or online at www.yourescapes.net