86-year-old wins two first-place ribbons for gardening at Otoe County Fair


LINCOLN, N.E. - Good Samaritan Society – Syracuse assisted living resident JoAnne Bates, 86, has spent the last 15 years planting flowers with Gerri Harden, the assisted living manager.

“She needed some help,” Bates said. “So, I went out there to help her ’cause I had seen her working out there, and I thought, you know, I am going to go out there and help her. So, we have been watering them all the time. It’s hot like this. We have been watering them and making them look pretty.”

Bates reminisced on the roses her mother had around their house as a kid and how they took care of them. The gardening today brings back all of those wonderful memories.

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