From a seed, a courtyard grows

JASPER — “There is honor in meeting and overcoming life’s challenges.”

This is what Greg Ahlijian has the children say, every Thursday, after he says good morning to them in a classroom at Jasper Mountain, the nonprofit treatment center and school for emotionally disturbed children.

“Within yourself,” Ahlijian then says, “are you going to find an excuse to fail, or the courage to succeed?”

“The courage to succeed!” they always say.

So, when it came time to decide the words to mount on the curved brick wall and seating area that is part of the new Children’s Courtyard at the center, well, that was easy: “There is honor in meeting and overcoming life’s challenges.”

Repeat.

Ahlijian, 68, is the impetus and inspiration behind the new courtyard that was constructed between May and September.

The courtyard, which includes a jungle gym, a small climbing wall, a curved green wall for playing “JMC (Jasper Mountain center) curveball,” a game Ahlijian invented just for the kids, and several basalt columns inscribed with inspiring words, replaced what once was just a grass field with a swing set and a few other play things.

A public dedication is set for Sunday.

“I felt it would be a nice gift to the children and, compared with what was out there, it would be a step up,” says Ahlijian, a retired arborist.

The money to pay for the courtyard, which cost about $93,000, came from sales of his 2010 book, “The Large Rock and the Little Yew: A Short Story About Courage, Perseverance, Self-Respect, and Hope.”

The $20 coffeetable-style book sells at local Hiron’s stores, on his website and out of his car. Sales in the past five years now are somewhere north of 5,000 copies, for a grand total of about $110,000.

It’s the story of a tiny yew tree seed, trapped in the cold, dark crevice of a large rock. Yet it survives and grows large and strong and one day towers over the rock.

Ahlijian, who never had children of his own, now has many he cares for at Jasper Mountain.

It all began in December 2007, when as a member of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce “greeters,” he attended a Christmas party for the children at the center.

“And it changed my life, because I saw these children, and my heart went out to them,” he says, sitting earlier this week in the office of Dave Ziegler, Jasper Mountain’s founder and executive director. “I had a knot in my stomach, and I needed to be involved.”

So he applied to become a weekly volunteer teacher.

One day, he was doing a lesson on ancient trees and said something about how fascinating it would be to write a story about what one tree might witness over the centuries.

A little girl was riveted. “I noticed that her eyes lit up, and I said to myself, ‘I can write this story,’ ” Ahlijian recalls.

And he did. In a single day in fall 2008. On a yellow legal pad.

Even if it’s more about what that large rock witnesses, it’s been a huge success, and then some.

And what that little yew goes through is, not accidentally, an allegorical tale that parallels the lives of the children at Jasper Mountain.

Ziegler’s initial thought? “You’re a great guy (Greg), but you might want to lower your expectations.”

And now? Astonishment. “And it’s still going!” Ziegler says.

After book sales garnered more than $10,000, Ziegler asked Ahlijian: “What do you want to do with the money?”

Ahlijian said let’s wait and see how much comes in; give it a little more time.

When it got to almost $40,000, Ahlijian decided on the courtyard to replace the grass field that had a swing set, a geodesic dome and a trampoline on it.

The nonprofit’s board took a vote: Done.

Why would they say no? Ahlijian has paid for everything on this project.

“I said in the beginning, ‘I want to pay your expenses,’ ” Ziegler says. “And he said, ‘No.’ ”

Ahlijian was even paying taxes on the book sales. Ziegler has taken care of that by making sure payments for book sales now go directly to Jasper Mountain.

Some of the money has come from donors who have made a bulk purchase, say 50 books for $1,000.

Then Ahlijian suggests those books go to other children-centered nonprofit organizations, such as Ophelia’s Place, the Boy Scouts, PeaceHealth’s Courageous Kids’ program, the Children’s Miracle Network, Court Appointed Special Advocates, etc.

About 15 nonprofit groups have received the books, so they’ve gotten into the hands of lots of kids, Ahlijian says.

And, of course, every child who goes through Jasper Mountain gets a free copy, signed by all, yearbook-style.

“He has been doggedly focused on making this thing happen, and the entire project has worked because of him,” Ziegler says.

He also has a new book out, “An Elephant Would Be Wonderful,” sales of which he hopes will benefit another nonprofit group he’s yet to choose.

And he hopes to use money still coming in from sales of the first book to establish a scholarship fund at Jasper Mountain for children who are underfunded or hardship cases for schooling at the center.

As Ahlijian and Ziegler venture out on a sunlit October day to show off the courtyard, which sits at the base of a hillside covered in Oregon white oak trees, Ziegler laughs as he mentions the curved green wall, for JMC curveball, had to be changed three or four times to meet Ahlijian’s specifications.

“I just felt these children deserve our best,” says Ahlijian, who has a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon and helped design the courtyard’s features. “And that’s what I wanted to give them.”

Ahlijian also handpicked each and every basalt column purchased from Lane Forest Products — each one inscribed with words such as humility, honesty, faith, perseverance and courage.

“He just wants the kids surrounded by inspiration,” Ziegler says.