Mesa Community College’s Rose Garden creators win Pay It Forward award

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- We Paid It Forward in Mesa to LeRoy and Mary Lou Coffman, who helped create the Rose Garden at Mesa Community College.

Mike Cryer nominated them. He said, “Marylou has been the curator for that whole entire time, Leroy has been the architect, Marylou picks out the roses, and Leroy negotiates with the plant society and plants them for us.”

It all started 25 years ago, and both LeRoy and Mary Lou spent countless hours planting, planning, and organizing volunteers. Because of their hard work, they have seen their garden grow to over 9,000 roses.

So we walked up to them in the garden and said, “Come on over here real quick. We want to Pay It Forward for $500, oh gosh. This is for everything you do with us, well how wonderful, congratulations. Thank you for all you do. I am speechless, and that doesn’t happen much.”

Every year the garden is in full bloom in the spring, and you can guess it’s a favorite spot for pictures, which is why they created it.

Marylou said, “It means a lot. People come here to relax and enjoy themselves. They come and read a book, the students come out and enjoy their lunch here.”

If you would like to nominate someone for our Pay It Forward Award, fill out a form on our community page.

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