Look, Listen, Palpate
Image source: Unsplash
by Gabriel Bonassi, Shreya Bhoopathi, Sofia Boiajian, Tarak Davuluri, Andrew Edgington
The Toledo Botanical Garden is an important landmark in the city, known for its native wildlife and rich historical background. Our team explored the Garden using the "look, listen, and palpate" method. This involved appreciating the park's visual aesthetics, listening to its ambient sounds, and palpating its textures to learn more about what it has to offer. Through this method, we discovered the Garden enhances Toledo's landscape, preserves its cultural heritage, and serves a communal purpose.
Let's take a trip back in time to 1963, a prosperous year that reimagined culture within the "Glass City" of Toledo. Amidst the molten glass that forged skyrises and aspirations, a quieter legacy began to unfold. During his passing, prominent realtor and businessman George P. Crosby, in an extraordinary act of generosity, donated his 20-acre horse farm to the city. Today, that generous gift has grown into the 60-acre Toledo Botanical Garden, a space that represents a devoted community's commitment to preserving green spaces and promoting inclusivity.
Park supervisor Steve S. Ford notes that the Garden has grown to be much more than a serene escape. Through his involvement in building and designing the new inclusivity Garden, Mr. Ford mentioned how the new space was designed to accommodate everyone. "We wanted to engage all the senses to invoke memories," Mr. Ford explained, gesturing to a circular pathway of bricks that each produce a unique sound when rubbed with shoes, which provide essential auditory cues to visually impaired visitors navigating the space. "Now stand still and close your eyes," Mr. Ford said enthusiastically. Within a couple of seconds, the sounds of nature were amplified by our tympanic membranes. Following the rapid conversion of sound waves to electrochemical signals, our vestibulocochlear nerves promptly delivered this information to our somatosensory cortexes. In return, we were rewarded with the pleasant harmony of wind, birds, and rustling trees. "The area is also wheelchair accessible and up-to-code," says Mr. Ford, who was proud to create a garden that invites everyone to share in its beauty. The Toledo Botanical Garden is an excellent example of how Toledoans take the extra time to increase the accessibility of public parks.
As we continued to explore, we came across volunteer John, who was hands-deep in a bucket of soil, tending to the nationally recognized, award-winning lily collection. "This here is Becky Lynn," he said with a chuckle, introducing one of the lilies as if she were an old friend. The lilies we saw, carefully tended and named, stood as quiet witnesses to the decades of community care, reminding us that beauty in the Garden is not merely seen but nurtured over time. While telling us about the history of the Gardens, it was divulged that a possible mythical moon tree, sprouted by a seed carried by the real Apollo 14 mission, might be present in the park. However, that is just one of many fascinating stories and myths told by volunteer John. Through our conversation, he also brought up how the Botanical Garden hosts the annual Crosby Festival of Arts, which honors the land donation of Mr. Crosby in its name. This lively event hosts around 10,000 people a year, complete with food, drinks, and live music. With continued festivals since 1965, it is officially Ohio's oldest outdoor juried art festival. In contrast to the liveliness of these festivals, our impression of Toledo Botanical Garden noted a quiet, calming atmosphere that allows its visitors to genuinely enjoy and embrace the natural beauty they find themselves in.
Beautiful lily collections aside, Toledo's Botanical Garden offers unique visual experiences of nature infused with art and history. A promenade lined with grand silver linden trees welcomes visitors at the entrance. Along the path, large decorative urns with relief carvings depicting early village life can be found, cracked and chipped along the surface with a rustic finish. At the Garden's center lies Crosby Lake, featuring distinctive yellow boat-like sculptures that are moved by the wind. In the picturesque, tree-lined Grand Allee, we noticed a statue of Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers, extending flowers in her hand. As we looked around, Peter Navarre's cabin came into view. Born in Detroit in 1785, Peter was known for having served General William Henry Harrison as an Indian scout in the War of 1812 and for his skill in woodcraft. We noticed a diverse vegetable garden sitting proudly right outside his cabin, giving us a glimpse of the lifestyle of early settlers and their traditional practice of agriculture. Next to each plant, detailed plaques share stories of food and cultural exchanges, offering glimpses into the rich history behind Toledo's development.
In every corner, the Toledo Botanical Garden shows the city’s commitment to a community space that preserves natural beauty. The diverse assortment of native flowers and vegetables in the city provides a glimpse into the life of Toledo natives prior to city life. We see the progression of trade between different cities through the addition of plants in the Garden. The auditory component was noted in moments of quiet, broken by the soft rustling of branches and people talking with their loved ones. These quiet moments allow Toledo residents to reconnect with nature and the people around them. Palpating the various plants and artifacts in the Botanical Garden reminded us of the people who lived in Toledo before us. All these experiences led us to understand the history of Toledo and the progression of our city since it was settled. The variety of plants that are not native yet are finding a way to thrive parallels the warm greeting that Toledo extends to everyone who enters the city.
Gabriel Bonassi, Shreya Bhoopathi, Sofia Boiajian, Tarak Davuluri, and Andrew Edgington are second-year medical students at the UTCOMLS, where they are team members in a team-based learning (TBL) group
