(Poster's note: Take a look at the last paragraph - Columbus and Bill may become very influential in ACGA in the months and years ahead, since ACGA's Board has decided to move ACGA's offices from NYC Council on the Environment (which have been hosting us as a favor, thanks in large measure to ACGA President Gerard Lordahl) to Columbus, Ohio's, Franklin Park Conservatory. DB)
Bill Dawson- Crusader Urban Renewal Winner Gardening has always been part of Bill Dawson's life. Growing up in Ohio, he often would help his German grandfather in their large vegetable garden each summer. As an adult he worked for golf courses and landscapers fostering a growing passion for plants. However, it wasn't until he worked for Ameriflora (an International Flower Exposition) in 1992, did he get a taste of the people-side of gardening. "I ran a youth program taking disadvantaged kids from the Columbus, Ohio area and worked with them to landscape homes around the cityms Franklin Park in anticipation of the Ameriflora public horticultural exposition" says Bill. "We landscaped 70 houses, and I really got hooked on working with these kids. They grew personally and socially in the process of creating beautiful landscapes they could be proud of," he says. Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens After Ameriflora was over, instead of going back to landscaping, Bill stayed on at Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens and worked maintaining the gardens left behind. "We had to start from scratch," he says. "Ameriflora took most of the plants and equipment when they pulled out." While he was doing most of the work himself, Bill remembered the kids he had worked with at Ameriflora and started gathering volunteers to help. Greening to Grow By 2002 Bill took over the Greening to Grow Program Community Garden program the city had instituted a year before. This program was developed to build and assist community garden, school garden, and beautification projects in Columbus. At that time there were only 10 community gardens in the city and those were struggling to survive. Three years later, Bill and Greening to Grow have made a world of difference. There are now more than 50 community gardens and 35 other school gardens and beautification projects in Columbus. Although Bill didnmt start them all, he's been a vital resource for many of them. He helps secure starter funding for the gardens and has developed an Urban Gardening School. Once a civic group or neighborhood association gets the money to start a garden they enroll in Billms 8-week community gardening program. Itms more than just learning about plants. Bill teaches about fund raising, motivating volunteers, community organizing and garden program maintenance. "What good is starting a new garden, if you canmt keep it going with the resources you have," says Bill. One project he ms particularly proud of involves juvenile offenders from the court system. The court officers wanted to have first time offenders create a garden as a way to fulfill their community service. Bill worked with the youth offenders and the city officials to help clean out a city lot in the roughest section of town, design the gardens, help install the plants, and train the youth and supervisors on how to keep the project running. "After only one year of growing this garden, they won the city-wide Best Community Garden Award," says Bill. The kids really took pride in the work involved in gardening. They appreciated the beautiful, productive garden they created. "Much of the food grown went to the local food shelf so they felt like they were giving back to the same community they had offended," says Bill. Bill's Demonstration & Teaching Garden While hems busy helping gardeners round the city, Bill still has time to plant, maintain and teach classes at the Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. "Therems a model 19 plot community garden on-site that I oversee. We're very involved in Plant a Row for the Hungry, so I ask each community gardener to donate a certain percentage of their produce to the local food bank," says Bill. The apple of Bill's eye is the demonstration garden at Franklin Park Conservatory. Bill uses it to teach school and adult groups. There are organic vegetable gardens, fruit garden, sensory garden, cut flower garden, two shade gardens, herb gardens, a perennial garden, and a newly installed accessible garden. "I worked with local high school kids to design and plant the accessible garden," says Bill. lWe also developed curriculum for schools to use in the garden." The accessible garden includes 3 raised table beds so kids in wheelchairs can roll under the beds and garden. Columbus Food Shed Project Even though Bill's plate is full with the demonstration gardens and consulting with the community and school gardens, he still has time to work collaboratively on other city-wide projects. The Columbus Food Shed Project approached Bill a few years ago to start gardens in 24 Head Start sites around the city over the a three year period. Bill worked with them teaching the teenagers who would be at the Head Start sites how to teach the young children about gardening. "We not only had kids learning about gardening, but they would learn about nutrition and good eating habits at a very young age," he says. "This is when you really can make a difference." And Bill's one-man band of making Columbus a more gardening- friendly city is being noticed elsewhere. He's been talking with the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA), a national organization dedicated to promoting community gardening. Theymve decided to move their headquarters to Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in the near future. This will give Bill more ideas, projects and help making gardening more available for everyone. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
