“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day,” Arnold quoted. “Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” In fact, two of the trusties have been accepted to MTSU. “That’s a success,” Arnold said. Arnold commented during the Garden of Hope ribbon-cutting ceremony sponsored by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. About 120 people attended the ceremony, including state and county elected officials, chamber representatives, MTSU officials who partnered with the sheriff’s office on the project, and sponsors who supplied plants, seed and materials.
County Mayor Ernest Burgess described the garden as precise and clear. “We are investing in the future of these young men,” Burgess said, adding, “The real fruit we are producing is in the lives of these men.” Dr. Gloria Bonner, assistant to MTSU President Sidney McPhee, said MTSU partnered with the project. She congratulated MTSU faculty and students and community, volunteer Brenda Benz Elliott, Deputy Arthal Minter who supervised the project and sponsors who participated in the program.
“Sheriff, I want to thank you for sharing your vision,” Bonner said. Trusties worked in the extreme heat to produce the garden along with the education elements and personal achievements, she said. Minter said the passion of Arnold, Bonner, intern Kimberly Longway Foster and Benz Elliott made the garden possible. “I believe in our young men,” Minter said, adding the trusties learned to take obstacles and turn it into opportunities.
