Anniversary garden
Chase Sorrells had a hard time hiding his anniversary gift for his wife, Jalyne. It's one thing to hide a jewelry box in a sock drawer, it's another to keep secret that you've bought two vacant lots you are converting into a Memorial Park that will bear her name.
Not only that, but he carved out time to buy and plant flowers and trees before revealing it to her Thursday.
Sorrells, a postal worker who will soon be starting a new job with PennDOT, planted lilies, evergreens, daisies and lavender bushes after buying the lots at 522 and 524 W. Brady St. in June.
“I found the property on Zillow. I bought it for my wife,” said Sorrells. “I'm going to name it Ladybug Park because that's her nickname. I want it to be a community park for the city of Butler to enjoy.”
He hopes the trees and bushes he's planted will grow into a leafy wall along West Brady Street. People will be able to enter through an opening to an alley at the back of the lots.
Eventually, he hopes to build a brick walkway and add a stone with the name of the park.
“My vision is to have it (be) a wedding venue, so that I can propose to her again,” he said.
“Right now, I am still in shock,” said Jalyne Sorrells after being presented the deed to the properties. “It's incredible. I just don't know what to say.”
Actually, she's getting her present a little early. They were married July 20, 2019.“He knew my ex. We just hit it off. It was meant to be. I noticed Chase and thought, 'Yep, he's the one,'” she said.Sorrells said it was hard keeping the surprise from his wife while he worked to get it ready.“It was hard keeping it a secret from my wife. I had to go to the closing. I had to buy flowers and plant flowers,” he said.“I wanted to do something big, something lasting. One day, our kids can come and appreciate something. The community can appreciate it.”That day might be coming soon. Jalyne Sorrells is expecting their first child in February.Until then, she's hoping maybe they can fence in the property for now to let their two Great Danes and German shepherd/whippet mix have a place to run.
Sorrells said the neighbors have been welcoming, offering him garden tools and letting him hook his watering hoses up to their spigots.Marsha Rapone, who lives across the street from the lots, said, “I am beyond thrilled to have something done to improve the neighborhood.”Rapone said she grew up in her house and moved back three years ago from Georgia.Rapone was startled when she realized someone had bought the vacant lots.“I asked him, 'Are you taking donations?' And he said, 'Tell me your favorite flower,'” Rapone said.She gave Sorrells a donation to buy more shrubs and trees.“I want to feel I'm part of it,” she said of the new community park.Next door, Dave Holmes approved of the changes to the empty lots next to his house.Holmes said, “I like it. He planted it. It looks nice. It was a grass lot before.”
