New Hope Hy-Vee Dedicates Garden in Honor of Co-Founder's Daughter
August 10, 2016 | News & Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Hope Hy-Vee Dedicates Community Garden in Honor of Apple Valley Resident, Hy-Vee Co-Founder’s Daughter
NEW HOPE, Minn. (Aug. 9, 2016) — Hy-Vee, Inc. honored today the memory of Mabel Hyde Curry, former Apple Valley resident and daughter of Hy-Vee co-founder Charles Hyde, through the dedication of the New Hope store’s community garden. Hy-Vee executives and New Hope city officials joined several members of Curry’s family for a special ceremony at the store this morning.
Curry, a longtime nutritionist and college professor, lived in Apple Valley for more than 30 years. Throughout her lifetime, she maintained a keen interest in Hy-Vee and its growth. And more recently, she waited with much anticipation for the Twin Cities’ first Hy-Vee stores to open; Curry frequently asked to be driven by the construction sites. Sadly, the 94-year-old died in December 2014 before the stores opened the following fall.
To honor Curry’s Hy-Vee heritage and the passion she showed for promoting health and wellness, the New Hope community garden will be officially named the Mabel Hyde Curry Memorial Garden. Hy-Vee will partner with local schools this fall to care for the garden.
“Hy-Vee is committed to health and wellness,” said Mike Long, Hy-Vee’s northeast district vice president. “The community garden not only serves as a tribute to Mabel’s memory, but encourages others to get involved in growing their own produce. Community gardens are an opportunity for Hy-Vee to educate youth on the importance of eating right from a young age.”
During Tuesday’s dedication, Hy-Vee officials unveiled a new feature of the garden — a memorial bench inscribed with Curry’s favorite saying, “Good nutrition will help you live longer, but knowledge of the arts will make your life more interesting.”
The community garden was planted in April and features tomatoes, peppers, herbs, strawberries, zucchini, watermelon, cucumber, cabbage, eggplant and onions. All produce from the garden will be donated to community partners to add to their selection of healthy, nutritious and local food options.
The Mabel Hyde Curry Memorial Garden is being funded as part of the Hy-Vee One Step program, in which a portion of Hy-Vee One Step product sales goes toward funding community gardens, clean water drinking wells, tree planting projects and meals for those in need. Hy-Vee has awarded more than 580 garden grants since 2013 to purchase seeds, plants, garden tools and food preservation equipment for community gardens across its eight-state region.
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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 240 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $9.3 billion annually. Hy-Vee ranks among the top 25 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. Supermarket News, the authoritative voice of the food industry, has honored the company with a Whole Health Enterprise Award for its leadership in providing services and programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. For more information, visit www.hy-vee.com.