I have lived for most of my life in Phoenicia. Its small town community and natural beauty always bring me joy. My love of gardening led me to join Phriends of Phoenicia when I retired. My contribution to this group is to plant and tend to the flower garden under the Phoenicia sign on Route 28 by the first ramp into town. Sewing is another passion of mine and I work on sewing quilts for the local Project Linus group. I graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a Bachelors degree in Art Education. My 30-year teaching career was spent in the 7th grade art room at Onteora Middle School. As I developed my idea for the Leaping Trout Project, I knew that I wanted to emphasize the trout’s spots and the water it lives in. I drilled and cut into the aluminum trout silhouette, sanded its surface to make it shine and added plexiglas water that I painted with acrylics.