COMMUNITY GEMS: ‘It was my turn to give back;’ Greene County man donates to House of Bread from his large garden

He says he started the garden 12 years ago simply because he wanted something to keep him busy when he retired. He tends to the garden from early March until around Thanksgiving, day in and day out.

Jewett worked in or with the Air Force for 43 years and felt that he received a lot of support.

“When I quit, I felt it was my turn to be giving back. I got a lot from the government, and it was time to give back,” he said.

He also said that tending to the garden, in addition to giving back to the community, makes him feel better physically. He hopes he has inspired others, especially retired people, to do the same.

“This is not your typical backyard garden,” Margie Perenic said. Perenic is a friend of Jewett and his wife, Wanda, and has known them for around 25 years.

Perenic nominated Jewett as a Dayton Daily News Community Gem because she feels that he deserves recognition for the work he’s done for others.

This year, Jewett has been accompanied by his grandson, Corey Greer. Greer has helped his grandfather tend to his garden for a number of years but only started consistently working on it this year.

“It’s nice to get out here and get sun and spend time with my grandpa,” Greer said.

Greer has come out to help Jewett almost every day that Jewett has worked on the garden this year, and said that gardens like Jewett’s are important because there’s not that many people that help those in need, and it’s necessary for someone to help.

“You can’t judge them for where they’re at,” Greer said. “If they need food, they need food.”

Both Greer and Perenic also described Jewett as humble and mentioned that he doesn’t look to gain recognition for what he’s done.

“The amount of people that this food can feed makes it all worthwhile,” Greer said. “With that being said, he still doesn’t want the recognition. He doesn’t need it. This is just something he wanted to do to stay busy after retirement.”

This year will be Jewett’s last year growing this garden. Greer has expressed interest in continuing it.

“I would love to,” Greer said about continuing the garden. “I’ve already offered.”

Jewett is thankful for the community, and says that giving back is important to him.

“I don’t know if I could ever give back what I got,” Jewett said. “But I can give back some.”