The River and Me

Step Two: Paint and Marigolds

The next day, Evette calls Stan to ask him to bring the tires to the Riverfront Community Center. They’re having a festival to raise money for the food pantry.

On Friday, Evette meets Makena and Maritza in the service area behind the building. They hose off the tires, and Evette explains her idea for turning them into planters. The other day, Dad helped her cut plywood into squares, and the girls glue the plywood to the bottom of each tire so each one can hold a large pot. They paint each tire a different color and add designs on top.

Evette brings out some old plastic pots from Gran E’s garage, along with marigolds she no longer needed in the garden. They plant the marigolds in the pots and place them inside the tires. The three girls strike silly poses to post on the World by Us website.

On Sunday, the festival begins. The girls set up the tires on the lawn as people stroll in. There’s live music, a food truck from Makena’s uncle, and craft tables for people of all ages. Kasey comes by and admires the tires, calling them a creative reuse. He asks the price; Evette says twenty-five dollars each, but she’ll give him a discount.

The tires sell quickly, and soon only two remain. Then Stan shows up, surprised to see his old tires turned into planters. He promises not to dump tires again, and Evette says they deserve to be recycled instead. Stan agrees to buy the last two planters to zhuzh up his store, and offers to split the profits with the community center if any of his customers want to buy some.

Evette says that sounds great. Everyone, even old tires, deserves a second chance.

Evette, Makena, and Maritza celebrate the sellout with grilled cheese sandwiches from the food truck, eating by the river’s edge. The water still isn’t perfect, but it already looks cleaner.

Evette knows the world holds many kinds of problems, but the river has taught her that when people come together, hope rises and they can do remarkable things.