Even though I love the changing seasons and would miss them terribly if I lived in one of the year-round sunshine states, by January I nearly always have a mild case of SAD (seasonal affective disorder), depression said to be brought on by lack of sunlight.

This seasonal funk can be treated with light therapy and medications, but since my symptoms are mild, no more serious than feeling moody and lazy, I have learned to treat myself by getting outside to soak up any glimmer of sun that blesses us and keeping myself busy with mood-lifting activities.

Working with Ironton In Bloom, Inc. has become part of my winter therapy. You might think the group lies dormant until spring, but the opposite is true.

We search gardening magazines and catalogs, come to a consensus about what the summer floral display should look like and get our order in so the plants can be started in February and ready to transfer to pots in May. We agreed we must see to relining the hanging baskets before planting time, since the present material has deteriorated. We discussed ways to raise the money for this extra expense.

We’re excited about this summer’s display. Rather than the more random plantings of previous years, we’ve tried to coordinate the colors for each block as well as use more of the same kinds of flowers to create a harmonious look throughout the entire downtown area.

Other winter projects were literally light-producing. We teamed up with the Rotary Club to add Christmas lights to the fountain square on Third Street.

We also sponsored a Best-Decorated Business Contest with a fifty dollar prize given to the winner. The results were instantly gratifying both in results and participation.

The town seemed even more beautifully decorated than in past holiday seasons, and there were more than 600 votes cast at the designated voting locations for approximately 30 different businesses — so many that I don’t have enough space in this column to publish them as I had planned!

So if you’ve got the ‘winter blues’ give some thought to what you might do to bring some light into someone else’s life; or join one of the many local volunteer groups who work year-round improving our community.

I can personally assure you these remedies do put you in a more positive frame of mind.

Ironton in Bloom welcomes all newcomers and meets at 5:30 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of each month on the ground floor of the City Center on Third Street.

 

Judy Sanders is an Ironton resident and a volunteer with the Ironton In Bloom organization.