It was only a few weeks ago that Jacob Francom, principal of Troy Junior and Senior High School, received a surprising letter in the mail.

Lowe’s, the home improvement giant, had selected the recipient of one of its Toolbox for Education grants in the amount of $5,000 for a landscaping and beautification project. Francom found the grant online and spent a few hours applying as soon as he could.

“I thought it was a real longshot,” Francom said. “My wife told me not to waste my time with it.”

Their doubts proved wrong, and the project, which will include new gardens in the front of the school, is off to a hot start.

“It’s going to beautify our school a lot,” Francom said. “We’ve already got many comments that the school is looking a lot better.”

Francom said the project is about half done, and he expects it to be finished in around two weeks.

The first volunteer event happened last week, when 24 teachers, PTA members, students and even school-board members came out to plant some new flora in the rain.

Troy School Board member Joe Pepiot was one of those out in the drizzle.

“It was fun, I mean it was a wet and soggy day, but everyone had a good time,” Pepiot said. “It’s good for the school and makes us proud of it.”

Francom said the rain wasn’t a damper on spirits.

“It was a good time. We had a lot of doughnuts and hot chocolate,” he said.

The next volunteer event to finish up the project will be sometime next week, depending on Lowe’s next delivery of plants. The company will ship the remaining 80 plants on June 11, 12 or 13, and the volunteer date will vary from June 14, 15 or 16.

“Anyone who wants to can come out and help,” Francom said. 

Chapel Cedar donated bark chips for the gardens. Other projects include the staining and weathering of the new Trojan pole, which was still green when it was raised last October.