SUNY Blooms – a day of beauty, teamwork, fun

Staff plant rows of flowers outside of the University Police entrance of Kunsela Hall during the 2016 SUNY Blooms.

It’s been an annual tradition at SUNY Poly in Utica going back as far as some staff members can remember.

Each year on a day in June, numerous staff members exit their offices and make their way across the grounds of SUNY Poly, digging, weeding, planting; doing a little bit that equals out to a large sense of pride for those working here each day.

For Mary Ann Peck, the day was bittersweet, as it was the last SUNY Blooms event she took part in before retiring in June 2016.

“I’m very sad that this will be my last SUNY Blooms. I’ll be planting somewhere else next year,” she said. “But I think it’s a wonderful event. It makes the campus look beautiful and it’s a nice team effort. It gets us out of the office and develops a sense of camaraderie. And it’s a lot of fun.”

Peck was joined by colleagues Lynne Browne, Courtney Kerwin, Anthony LaPolla, and Ivan Potocnick outside the entrance of Kunsela Hall near University Police, planting rows of red, yellow, and green.

For many taking part in the collaborative effort, it’s a matter of keeping up your home.

Staff members outside Kunsela Hall’s rear entrances plant flowers to help beautify the campus.

The staff of the Human Resources department were joined by Michelle Tucker of Instructional Resources outside the rear entrance of Kunsela Hall, where they planted a sea of color that included, but certainly was not limited to impatiens, snapdragons, and dusty millers.

“It’s a nice day to have the employees working together, to make the campus more beautiful,” said Amy McLaughlin of Human Resources. “This is just a nice way to help beautify the campus a little bit more for our summer visitors.”

Working swiftly, Amy and her crew outside the back of Kunsela Hall moved at an even more lightning speed when Mike Durr and his facilities crew stopped by, quickly adding to the digging efforts and helping to turn the splotches of brown dirt into a veritable rainbow of foliage.

“This event really encourages collaboration from the various office on campus,” said Connie Castellano, Director of Campus and Corporate Events. “It’s also a great chance to see some faces you don’t ordinarily see every day.”

And they could not have received a more perfect day for such efforts, with a bright sun shining down upon them and temperatures reaching 80 degrees on this June 1 event.

Plants and tools await the morning of SUNY Blooms 2016.

Outside the Campus Center, College Association Director John Reale felt right at home in the garden beds.

“I like to plant,” Reale said. “I like to watch things grow. It’s a sign of new life and it’s wonderful.”

Other sites with groups focusing on beautification included around the gazebo as well as outside of Donovan Hall, and the entrance to the Cayan Library.

The morning of hard work by staff was capped off with a barbecue outside the Student Center.