By Brian Park
The Los Rios Park Garden Angels, a group of gardeners who volunteer their time to help care for Los Rios Park, were honored by the San Juan Capistrano City Council Tuesday, September 4.
“We’re going to honor and recognize a group of individuals who love to garden, who have a real passion for giving back and like to get their hands dirty,” Mayor Larry Kramer said. “You can build a park, but if you don’t maintain it, it goes downhill real quick.”
Kramer and Mayor Pro Tem John Taylor presented 11 Garden Angels with certificates and blue denim gardening aprons with the words “Los Rios Garden Angels” embroidered in orange across the front.
The volunteer program was started in 2009 by Taylor’s wife, Marianne Taylor. Volunteers with varying degrees of gardening experience meet regularly to clean and maintain Los Rios Park. The program is just one service offered by Marianne Taylor’s home business, Goin Native, which also offers gardening and cooking classes and debuted the Los Rios Historic District Garden Tour this year.
To become a Garden Angels volunteer or to learn more about Goin Native, visit goinnative.net.