Letter: Arbor Day events tomorrow

Dear Editor:

We have made significant progress at the Lincolnville Community Garden since my last update.

It’s been very inspiring to see our community come together to build this wonderful neighborhood project. The successful completion of this neighborhood asset was a combined effort of over 50 sponsors, over 50 construction volunteers and now over 60 garden members and growing.

Thanks to all who have pitched in and helped. Please visit the Journal tab on our website, www.citysprout.org, to see our progress in photos.

This year, The City of St. Augustine will commemorate Arbor Day 2011 at noon on this Friday, January 21, with the planting of four Live Oak Trees adjacent to the Lincolnville Community Garden.

The site is adjacent to the Willie Galimore Recreation Center at Eddie Vickers Park located at 399 South Riberia Street.

The ceremony will include a presentation by the City’s Tree Advisory Committee, remarks by officials, musical selections from students of the Lead The Way School and Smokey the Bear will be giving away free tree samplings.

This is a great opportunity to support our City’s tree planting efforts as well as an opportunity to see the the progress that we’ve made at the garden. So please mark your calendar’s and bring friends and family. Let’s make this ceremony a community celebration!

Also of considerable note, CitySprout recently received two awards from Slow Food First Coast at the 2010 Farm City Banquet, their annual local foods banquet and awards ceremony held at the St. Johns County Agricultural Center. The event honors the work of groups and individuals that are making a positive difference in our local food supply.

CitySprout received the Slow Food First Coast Snail of Approval and the 2010 John Barnes “Spirit of Slow
Food” awards, recognizing the effort in helping to create the Lincolnville Community Garden.

Slow Food First Coast is the local chapter of Slow Food International, a non-profit member-supported association. Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people¹s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. For more information, please visit Slow Food First Coast at www.slowfoodfirstcoast.com.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped bring the Lincolnville Community Garden to our community and we look forward to seeing you out at the garden this Friday, January 21, starting at noon.

Be the seed, sprout a garden.

Cash McVay
citysprout.org
St. Augustine