KINGWOOD — Bill and Mildred Lindley have been involved with the Preston County Buckwheat Festival since 1966. Earlier this year, Mildred died of cancer. She was a master gardener and her flowers and plants were her pride and joy. After her passing, Lindley hasn’t been able to keep up with them.
On Saturday, several past Queen Ceres, Samantha Stone, Queen Ceres 1998; Jessica Lipscomb, Queen Ceres 2006; and Vanessa Hayes, Queen Ceres 2004; and their families surprised Lindley by tending to his wife’s plants before the festival.
“Bill organizes the parade for the floats,” Stone said. “This year I was late mailing the information to him so I brought it to him instead.” She said during past meetings she noticed his wife’s flower beds were well kept and beautiful. “I reached out to Vanessa and we decided to take care of the flower beds before the Buckwheat Festival.”
She said they brought their husbands and children to help. “Mildred was my kindergarten teacher,” Stone said. “I wanted to reach out to Bill and honor his wife for all the lives she had touched as a teacher.”
Jessica Lipscomb hung a fall wreath on the door.
“It has a crown in it,” she said pointing to a small crown decorating the bottom of the wreath. “The crown is so you never forget us.”
Lindley said he was both surprised and touched by the gesture.
“It was a wonderful and touching surprise,” he said. “It was a show of respect for my wife who passed away. She taught them (the past Queens) in kindergarten. They were doing this for her and out respect to me because of her influence as a teacher.”
Lindley said his wife, a master gardener, belonged to the Cranberry Gardening Club.
“She grew up on a farm in Jackson, Ohio. Her family had chickens, turkeys and Black Angus cattle,” he said. “I used to jokingly call her Miss Dirt because she was always working outside with her flower beds.”
He said his wife was Fair Queen one year in her hometown in Ohio.
“It was the year she showed Black Angus. That was before I met her.”
Lindley said his wife was involved several projects while their children were growing up.
“She wrote feature stories and went to meetings for The Dominion Post,” he said. “And she and another lady did the Welcome Wagon in Kingwood.”
Stone said donations for the project were made by Katie Ware, Krista Kerns, Jana Kerns Jenkins and Vanessa Hayes.
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