Colon installs new garden planters

Downtown Colon has 14 new planters.
Shaped in the design of a top hat to complement the village’s “Magic Capital of the World” status, the planters were delivered Wednesday and put in place with some help from Colon High School students.
Marcia Blackman, president of the Colon Garden Club, said 12 fiberglass planters that were 25 years old were replaced.
A community drive to replace the old planters with new ones started last fall, when letters were sent to business owners, civic groups and other potential sources of support.
Blackman and Garden Club member Connie Thrams said the response drew contributions from almost 20 donors. One unexpected yet welcome source of funding came from the Branch County Foundation.
In all, enough money was raised that the club only needed to add $75 on its own to secure 14 new planters. They cost nearly $400 each.
The steel planters were created by Colon-area welder Emmanuel Yoder. They were then painted in Coldwater by students in the Branch Area Career Center auto shop class.