Snail Trails Garden Club consists of a group of individuals with a lengthy road ahead of them and the weight of the environment heavy on their shoulders. The founder of Snail Trails Garden Club, Aqua Warnick, a sophomore at CNU, has a community garden to fill with love and with great big plans on the horizon, she values the aid of three key individuals. First, Connor McMling, a current senior and sustainability student, has plans to bring the garden back to life, involving a shed and the installation of solar panels about seven to eight feet in the air. An additional aid, junior Caroline Jordan, alongside her Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity brothers, will be removing the wooden edges of the plots and exchanging them for brick; utilizing that wood for other projects, among other forms of aid. 

However, the students cannot refurbish this cherished place without the additional help of staff member Bryan Kelly. Bryan’s main role in the upgrading of the community garden is lovingly referred to as the “Garden Reimagined.” They work through all the hoops and obstacles of refurbishing and renovating the garden that is thriving with potential but is lacking in love.

Aqua shared that she dreams of having more of the Snail Trails Garden club on campus, maybe having an entire garden on campus one day. Aqua’s first steps to grow this club within campus will be sometime between now, and mid-October, where Aqua will supply paint and sealant to give anyone the opportunity to paint stepping stones for the garden, for as little as five dollars.

With an empty e-board and a garden in need of love, The Snail Trails Garden Club and their president are eagerly awaiting more students to help teach the newest generation about the love of gardening, plants and nature. This club ideally meets weekly, with an optional meeting over the weekend. They wanted to address that all meetings are optional. Aqua herself considers the club to be low commitment and low cost with no fees for students looking to join. 

These meetings are filled with important socialization opportunities, such as tea parties in the garden,  hikes with the club, community service opportunities, making terrariums, going on walks and many other fun experiences. The club’s goal is to inform and teach, but also to become involved, to give back to nature, and to give back a space that has been forgotten in the community. Don’t let the walks and hikes fool you. The founder has made it a priority that accessibility remains a focus for the club, so that anyone can join Snail Trails Garden Club. Aqua states that, “There is nothing that someone can’t do, we will always have options for people to do.” Which is an important message and a welcoming invitation that allows room for anyone and everyone to join the club.

As of right now, The Snail Trails Garden Club is being funded through CNU Sustainability, however Aqua and the rest of the club are actively looking for sponsorships elsewhere from other companies. The Snail Trails Garden Club have already been reaching out to try and get sponsorships from stores such as Lowes or Home Depot, with little luck. The goal with these sponsorships may not be indefinite, but are there until the club has accumulated and made enough profit to manage the garden on their own.

While sustainability is a large part of what the Snail Trails Garden Club stands for and how it gets a great deal of its funding, the Snail Trails Garden club differs from the Sustainability Club. While the Sustainability Club is centered around community service, the Snail Trails Garden Club is about getting immersed in nature, planting, gardening, and as Founder and President Aqua states, “keeping their hands in the dirt.”