By Barbara Mellon

It won’t be long now. The tremendous amount of work being done on Main Street, Lower Main and Delaware Avenue is entering the final stages.

The hamlet is now lined with a mix of concrete sidewalks and bluestone walkways, and peppered along them are dozens of newly planted saplings. The empty spaces between curbs and sidewalks have been filled with soil and finished off with sod, while grass seed has been planted (actually sprayed) in most other bare spots. In some areas, such as by Town Hall, more involved landscaping has been done.

Bluestone walks & new trees.

Roadways themselves have been paved, although another layer of blacktop still needs to be laid in some sections. Fresh markings have been painted, and attractive crosswalks resembling inlaid brick have been installed by the blinking light and in front of the school. Still to come is the placement of street lights and benches, possibly by January. Check out the photos to the right to view some of the recent progress.

New crosswalks.

When I was a child, I read a story called “The Magic Geranium”. A woman received a beautiful geranium plant which she sat on her kitchen table. It made the table appear so shabby that she painted it, and then the chairs looked sad. She painted the chairs and then . . .  Each improvement led to another until the whole house had received a facelift.  That’s what the Streetscape project feels like to me.  All along the affected streets, homes and businesses are being painted, gardens planted, stone or brick walls installed. When the dust from all of this activity settles, it will be clear that Andes is a place people are proud to call home. ~

Planting at Town Hall “gateway”

Seemingly endless sidewalk along Lower Main from the Post Office.