The story below is from our May/June 2019 issue. For the full issue Subscribe today, view our FREE interactive digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
Photo By Olivia Body
Anna Copplestone wants neighbors to feel connected to their land.
Across the city of Roanoke — tucked into corners of parks and alongside recreation centers and bordering neighborhood green spaces — are five community gardens with nearly 180 plots, filled with dill and strawberries, lettuce, kale, radishes and the baby plants that will soon bring summer’s bounty.
As of this spring, the Roanoke Community Garden Association has a new executive director overseeing them all.
Anna Copplestone, 34, is making sure the raised beds are sturdy, the hoses are turned on and the gravel paths are smooth. She’s pairing master gardeners with first-time growers and organizing events so each garden’s neighbors feel welcomed.
Copplestone believes her job is to grow, not only blueberries and cucumbers and oregano, but also a connection between people, place and food.
“I see this position as building community and fostering relationships,” says Copplestone in her soft-spoken, friendly manner. “It takes trust. I first need to listen and learn. I need to know what each gardener is looking for and what each community is looking for.”
Copplestone has two degrees from Hollins University–one, an interdisciplinary major in psychology and social work, and the other in environmental studies. For 10 years, she lived in an old farmhouse on the edge of campus, with her husband, director of the Hollins Outdoor Program, and eventually her son, now 9. By day, she worked as a help desk coordinator and audio/visual technician. As a volunteer, Copplestone created a campus tree guide and ran the Hollins community garden.
“Everything we grew, we sold to the dining hall,” she says–herbs and vegetables, flowers and decorative gourds. The students who worked in the garden felt a deep sense of pride, Copplestone says. “That sense of taking ownership of the land that’s in your community, that’s what I hope to replicate.”
Copplestone is the third executive director since Mark Powell founded the organization in 2008.
Community gardener and RCGA board member Celia McCormick says it was Copplestone’s “passion for sustainable living and her interpersonal skills necessary for building and growing relationships” that made her a good fit to lead the organization.
The RCGA headquarters moved to the Grandin CoLab in 2019. Copplestone’s command center is a tiny, out-of-the-way desk. But “I don’t anticipate being here very much,” she laughs. “I anticipate working in the gardens a lot!”
Since taking the reins in February, Copplestone has focused on meeting community leaders and training garden volunteers. She brought in college students for spring break work weeks and has scheduled planting days for each garden. She’s excited to reach folks from all walks of life to contribute in whatever way they can.
“Volunteers don’t need to be master gardeners,” she says. “If someone wants to volunteer who has never gardened before, come on in. That’s what a community garden is!”
To learn more, check out the RCGA website at roanokecommunitygarden.org.
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