PINEDALE – When Emily Wadsworth and her late husband Ronald bought a lot to build her home in 2004, she was surprised to find that the 125-by-100-foot lot along North Madison Avenue in Pinedale had something buried beneath that she has been dealing with ever since.

“I thought we were getting dirt, but we got rocks,” she said.

Not just a handful of rocks were discovered, but “tons” of rocks seemed to appear every time she turned around.

“I’ve been digging rocks ever since,” she smiled.

The first large load of rocks came while digging the home’s foundation. Over the years, when a rock pops up, she would take it and place it along the fence that ran along the border of her home.

“When they dug up the foundation, we had tons of rocks and have had them ever since,” she said. “We just had tons and tons of them. You can’t dig a hole without finding one.”

Growing a garden even caused issues due to the rocks, as carrots would come up crooked as they grew around the ever-prevalent stones. Despite giving away the smooth, rounded rocks for years to those that asked, she still has quite the collection along her fence and in a storage shed.

“We’ve had our share of rocks,” she said. “There are so many – we told people to take all they want and to come back if they want. There are plenty to take.”

Recently, Sage and Snow Garden Club Vice President Julie Kraft noticed the piles of rocks and inquired about the growing collection.

Last year, the garden club planted native plants at the gateway signs on both ends of town along U.S. Highway 191. An issue arose, however, as the landscaping needed terraces to better hold water.

“We planted the plants but couldn’t get the water to stay; we needed terraces,” club president Jeanne Brown said.

Kraft asked Wadsworth if Sage and Snow could have some rocks to construct the terraces; the answer was "yes."

“I told her they could have as many as they want,” she said.

So in July, approximately seven loads were hauled away and landscaping of the gateway sign additions took place on July 18 and 22 through a volunteer effort. As of early August, the terraces seem to be holding water as intended.

Brown thanked Wadsworth for the rock donation, as it assisted in a big way to help the native plans at the signs look even more appealing.

“She made the project so easy and was happy to help out,” Brown said. “She’s a good citizen and has done a lot of work.”

Brown also thanked the Town of Pinedale for giving the garden club the funds to hire a contractor to water plants along Pine Street, along with the gateway signs.