By Shain Haug | Allied Gardens/Grantville Community Council

The Allied Gardens/Grantville Community Council’s (AGGCC) Nov. 27, 2018 Town Hall meeting will address the Zephyr Special Needs housing project for homeless veterans now under development at the old Motel 6 on Alvarado Canyon Road. The meeting will be attended by Brendon Bergen, of Affirmed Housing, and Jonathon Castillo, of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).

As we come to the end of the year, it is a good time to review the AGGCC’s activities during 2018. A great year it was.

The newsletter we publish every other month is a great resource. It is full of important information about our community and the doings of local government. Our thanks to Julie Stollenwerk, John Kunkel, and Terri Lattman for faithfully getting this out to our subscribers and thanks to our advertisers for their loyalty.

Because of Marilyn Reed’s extraordinary leadership, we began the year with the holiday lights at the Kiwanis Triangle and at the fly-over bridge and the Holiday Festival.

AGGCC held six Town Hall meetings and offered information on and discussion of urban forestry, stadium area development, and homeless housing; and we heard from state Senator Toni Atkins and Councilmember Scott Sherman on matters of government operations.

AGGCC expanded our relationships with Foster and Marvin schools and we began regular contact with GADS (Grantville, Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, San Carlos), a new association of local business owners.

Cassie Rivaldi gave us the benefit of her expertise and established a fine website at aggccouncil.org.

The California Urban Forests Council (CaUFC) was founded in 1968 as the first urban forest council in the nation. We worked with this organization in planting and maintenance of 65 trees along Zion Avenue. Thanks to the watering and care the trees receive from their neighbors, they are flourishing. A grand canopy is only a few years away. Our board members Sophia Frost and Jessica Read led this effort and received the Best Urban Forestry Award from CaUFC. Their commitment is nothing short of amazing.

Our Beatification Committee hosted an Arbor Day event in association with the opening of the Allied Gardens Community Garden. The garden (located on the grounds of Ascension Lutheran Church) is the result of the leadership of the church and its partners and of contributions of money, materials, and trees by local merchants.

Every bit as important as what was done is what we hope to take on in 2019. There is so much more that needs to be accomplished. The short list includes website updating, continuation of the Zion Avenue Tree Project, expansion of the Urban Forestry throughout the community, development of our relationship with the local business community, Town Hall meetings on matters of importance to the communities, expansion of our newsletter subscriptions, and maintenance of the foliage around the Allied Gardens sign on Waring Road. Membership on the board of directors is critical to our continued work but only 10 of us are active, barely enough to continue our present work.

If you join the AGGCC board of directors, we promise you this: We will support and encourage your special passions for the neighborhood. You will not be asked to do more than the tasks you take on and, of greater importance, to work on no more than projects that you bring to the council. The Allied Gardens we love is ours to preserve and Grantville is beginning a momentous change in which we must be a part. The communities need you. This is your opportunity to be proud of your part in our important work.

The AGGCC board of directors meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Benjamin Library, at the corner of Zion Avenue and Glenroy Street. The board is dark in December. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019 (delayed one week because of the New Year’s Day holiday).

—Shain Haug is the president of the Allied Gardens/Grantville Community Council. Reach him at [email protected], or visit aggccouncil.org.