Lowe's Team Transforms North Carolina Park in Two Days

When a local hardware store team decides to roll up their sleeves, a whole community benefits.

Employees from the Lowe's store in Smithfield, North Carolina transformed Barbour's Grove Park in Four Oaks over two days in late August. The volunteer crew tackled everything from pressure washing the gazebo and stage to replanting flower beds and removing dead bushes.

The makeover came through Lowe's Hometowns, the company's community revitalization program that pairs employee volunteers with funding for local improvement projects. Store manager Greg Wells led the eight-person team through the park refresh on August 25 and 26.

The volunteers didn't just do surface work. They pressure washed sidewalks, the gazebo, stage, and park benches until they looked new again. Fresh paint covered the gazebo, stage handrails, and benches in coordinating colors.

The landscaping got equal attention. Dead bushes came out, landscaped areas got thorough cleaning, and new plants and flowers went in around the park's gathering spaces.

The Ripple Effect

Barbour's Grove Park serves as a central meeting spot for Four Oaks residents. Joan Pritchett, executive director of the Four Oaks Chamber Foundation, said the improvements made a tremendous difference for the community gathering place.

The project aimed to refresh the public space and improve how the park looks for both residents and visitors. When community spaces get care and attention, they become places people want to use more often.

The volunteer team included Ron Stanley, Rita Joyner, Jessica Adamson, Joanna Armenakyan, Jordan Countryman, Debbie Sotla, Amanda Bryant, and Kim Brown. They all work at the North Brightleaf Boulevard location in Smithfield.

Sometimes the best community improvements come from neighbors helping neighbors, even when those neighbors work at the hardware store down the road.