A new garden at St. Andrews Village will offer residents a place to spend time outside in a safe but largely unstructured atmosphere where they can enjoy outdoor functions or just read the paper in the morning.

The new garden is made possible by the St. Andrews Hospital Auxiliary. Featuring a patio, walkway and wooden fence, it allows Gregory Wing residents the chance to recapture a sense of normalcy and engage in activities that can improve their cognitive abilities.

Ellen Memory, a member of the Auxiliary Board, said the garden was born out of discussions she had with Mike Lee, Executive Director of St. Andrews Village, which includes the Gregory Wing.

After talking with Lee and Pam Thiboutot, then social worker at the Gregory Wing, Memory broached the idea with the Auxiliary Board this spring and the Auxiliary decided to dedicate $25,000 to the project.

Miriam Wade, President of the Auxiliary, said the Auxiliary wanted to create a place where family and friends could visit with Gregory Wing residents in a setting that didn’t feel institutional.

“We wanted to improve the quality of life of Gregory Wing residents and make it more of a natural setting,” Wade said.  “Besides, fresh air is good for everybody.”

Jerie Phinney, Activities Director at the Gregory Wing, said the new garden creates opportunities for activities that stimulate residents’ senses and improve their cognitive function as well as their overall quality of life.

“We have residents who, when the sun shines in the window, will say “Please, will you take me over to the sun,” Phinney said.

Now those residents will be able to go outside, smell the fresh air and sit in the sun. Being outside has been found to reduce stress levels in a number of studies.

To Memory, it all comes down to making the Gregory Wing a better place for the residents she has come to know and love after volunteering at the Gregory Wing for many years.

“I do cherish the time that I am there because I just love them all. They are wonderful interesting people who have led marvelous lives. I can just see them out there (in the garden),” Memory said.

Although the new garden is just now being completed, residents are already excited to use it. One asked Memory if the garden could have yellow umbrellas like the ones she remembered in Bar Harbor.

Memory remembered the resident saying, “Yellow umbrellas make you happy.” She said she hoped to find a way to make the woman’s wish a reality.