Navy volunteers made short work of their task on Saturday at Creekside Elementary School.

The celebration of life garden they built in honor of 6-year-old Creekside student Mason Sheets, who drowned in a retention pond near his home on March 25, features two park benches and two raised flowerbeds.

“We wanted to do some kind of dedication,” said Creekside PTA vice president Shannon Smith. She’s also a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Training Support Center Hampton Roads.

She told her comrades at work about the effort to do something in memory of Mason. The First Class Petty Officer Association Naval Command volunteered to do the work for a garden.

Greg Bishop, a Creekside parent and Home Depot manager, donated the benches and other supplies, Smith said.

“I just couldn’t imagine something like that,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Rachelle Joseph. “I just wanted to do something that could possibly bring a smile to the family, and so the kids can remember him.”

Trisha James, president of the PTA, said Creekside is “a very tight-knit community.”

The garden will be dedicated during the kindergarten graduation ceremony on June 11, James added.