Claremore School Greenhouse Growing Green

Community partnership benefits Will Rogers Museum attendees and students.

Doug Holman, Will Rogers Memorial Museum horticulturist, waters “Will Rogers Zinnias” in the Claremore school system greenhouse. Mike Martin (from left), Museum groundskeeper, and retired school administrator, and Mike McClaren, Claremore superintendent of schools, forged the partnership for use of the greenhouse.

A Claremore school greenhouse, that stood unused two or three years, is now getting a good workout.

It didn’t take long for Doug Holman, Will Rogers Memorial Museum horticulturist, to get the space in order to start working on plantings that will be added to the Museum grounds.
Mike Martin, Museum groundskeeper, worked out the use agreement with his college friend, Mike McClaren, Claremore superintendent of schools, to use the facility. While Holman cleaned up the area and pulled overgrown grass from the floor, Martin did the necessary repairs to the watering system.

“It took a small investment to upgrade the great space,” Martin said. He expects it to save the Museum thousands of dollars usually spent each year on plants used at the Museum and Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch.

Holman immediately moved some “Will Rogers’ Zinnia” plants to the greenhouse and is making plans for plantings in September to be used next year.

The greenhouse was built with a grant for the Alternative Learning Center, according to McClaren. When the teacher left, it sat unused until he and Martin had a conversation about it.
“This is a great example of a community partnership,” said Tad Jones, Museum director. “We are grateful to Claremore Public Schools for allowing the Memorial the opportunity to use the greenhouse to keep the Memorial looking pristine for all our visitors.”

McClaren said, “We are pleased to provide greenhouse space to the Will Rogers Memorial. It is an example of two entities forging a partnership that will benefit Museum attendees and student and faculty of Claremore Public Schools. Anytime you effectively use a facility for mutual gain everyone benefits. “I think Will would be pleased,” he added.

Holman, in the meantime, is enjoying the newfound resource to continue the beautification effort underway in the Memorial Museum gardens.

Another good thing to come of the partnership is that it generated a renewed interest among students, who are now using part of the space.

For more information, contact

Will Rogers Memorial Museum

www.willrogers.com