Metro Blooms’ biography for the month of November (I know it’s really December, but only by three days!) is highlighting our executive director, Becky Rice.  Becky may be the only other person in the office right now, but she was going to be our biography of the month anyway because she has super interesting stories to share!

Becky grew up in Southern Minnesota where her favorite time was spent “in Heaven” at her family’s lake cabin.  Being one of the first families to develop on the lake she remembers water so clear you could see to the bottom of the lake and frogs in such abundance it was almost scary.  When her family sold the cabin 10 years later the water wasn’t nearly as clear and the frogs much less abundant.  However, Becky’s time in this natural paradise wasn’t ruined as she carried the passion for nature she gained at the lake with her, being called a “nature freak” in high school and finally ending up with Metro Blooms where we’re all nature freaks and she has the opportunity to instill her passion in others every day.

Becky is a prime example of how effective Metro Blooms can be in a community.  She first installed a raingarden after she saw her neighbor installing one after attending a Metro Blooms workshop.  Fascinated by her raingarden at work Becky decided to apply for an opening with Metro Blooms and became our executive director in 2007.  One of her big accomplishments with Metro Blooms  has been initiating our Neighborhood of Raingardens program after noticing that about 30% more people would install a raingarden if only they had a little help!  The program piloted in the Victory neighborhood in 2009 and has now been put to use in over 12 neighborhoods.

Living in St. Paul with her husband, two kids and dog Daisy, Becky has three neighbors with raingardens and is well on her way to creating her own neighborhood of raingardens.