By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

A wide smile defined Gracie Regh's face as she waited in line for a Christmas gift bag from Marlon Lauber.

She was among some 20 youngsters who live near the Peace Garden in north Salina, where Lauber plays Santa Claus every year.

"It was awesome," said Gracie, 8, a third-grader at Oakdale Elementary School. "I come here every Christmas."

The garden at the corner of Forest and Second streets, established in 1999 by Ted and Vera Zerger, rural Salina, celebrated its fifth annual Christmas party Thursday.

More than 30 people enjoyed temperatures in the 40s as they helped decorate the garden with lights. Children hung ornaments on apple trees and dressed up the grounds, which have become a symbol of unity.

Vera Zerger, 70, had made chili in a roaster oven. There were cookies, cheese, crackers and chips to go along with cups of hot cocoa.

With their feet dangling over slushy snow, the young people dined quickly on picnic tables covered with festive table cloths.

Jennifer Riley, an appointed "elf," handed out treat bags to the youngsters.

With money he makes collecting and selling aluminum cans and donations from residents, Lauber, 51, provides a touch of Christmas to the children in his midst.

"My biggest reward is seeing the expressions on their faces when they get something. That's priceless," he said.

The party has evolved into a tradition in the garden, where word of events is spread by "telephone, telegraph and tell-a-neighbor," he said.

Many of the parents are working poor, he said, who struggle to provide basic necessities for their families.

Among them is a family of six who are living in a single motel room, Ted Zerger said.

"They sink everything they've got into making a living. They don't have much left over," Lauber said.

He works two part-time jobs, detailing cars and appliances.

Events at the garden bring people together, said Linda PaPorte, who lives across the street.

"They seem to be pretty friendly," she said of her neighbors.

The Peace Garden is home to several events through the year, including a planting party during the first week in May, a block party during the third week in August, and a Halloween party in October.

More than a garden

It's much more than a garden where fruits and vegetables are harvested each summer, Ted Zerger said. He became attached to the neighborhood in the 1990s while helping with a citywide cleanup.

After retiring in 1998 as a math teacher from Kansas Wesleyan University, Ted and Vera Zerger (she retired in 1999 as a school nurse in the Salina School District) embraced the north Salina neighborhood.

"I had some money set aside for retirement. There wasn't enough for an RV, so I bought those lots, instead," he said.

They said the neighborhood has taken ownership in the garden.

"What it's all about is building community," said Ted Zerger, 71.

People who live in the area help maintain the garden. The Zergers get some help from Salina Mennonite Church, 600 W. State, which leases the property from them for $1 a year.

The church pays the property taxes and electricity needed to operate a water well. A storage building was placed there two years ago. Through a Horizon Grant in 2001, they added benches and a gathering place.

"It's a bright, colorful, quiet and clean place. The neighborhood people really appreciate it," Ted Zerger said.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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