Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 6-18-20 E-edition

Thursday, June 18, 2020
The View From Here
Local garden center remembers one of their own By Juanita Adame
I could tell that Karey Ol- son be- came a bit teary eyed when she talked about her late friend and Com- munity
Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
It's located on Manning Av- enue near Crawford Avenue between the cities of Reedley and Orange Cove.
A small sign out front iden- tifies the location simply as, the Community Life Garden.
It’s a non profit organiza- tion. A place where fruits and vegetables are grown and like minded individuals who love and appreciate gardening get together to perfect their skills and teach newcomers how to do the same.
It’s also a place that Donna Lee loved to visit.
“This is Donna Lee’s gar- dening box,” said Karey Ol- son. Olson is a volunteer at the Community Life Garden.
“She passed away in Au- gust.”
Olson said the garden cen- ter is dedicated fundraisers and food donations but they knew they wanted to find a way to remember their friend Donna.
Life Garden member Donna Lee.
Karey’s voice cracked a bit as she described Donna, and I knew then that Donna was a special person.
I went to the garden on the morning of June 13 to cover a story about an event they had that morning.
“We featured garden- ing activities that children would like- and, we try to give them an educational component on how plants grow,” Olson said. “How some plants grow under- ground and some grow on top of the ground.”
“This is the plot that the kids worked on as well,” she continued.
Karey was explaining the event as well as how the center tries to reach out to the community and educate them on gardening.
Something I’m sure we could have used during the last few months of quaran- tine.
This was my first time visiting the center. I didn’t know its purpose or even that it had been at the Man- ning location for years.
“The colored flags each have a purpose,” Olson said as she pointed at the rows of plant boxes on the property.
“The ones with the blue flags are intended for the food banks, so anything that we grow we deliver to five different non profit food dis- tribution centers, the orange flags are boxes that belong to individual people, they have their own box, and it’s $25 for a whole year.”
As she continued explain- ing the various fruits and vegetables grown during the year, she began to tell me about Donna.
“This is Donna’s box over here,” said Olson.
From what she said, Don- na was an active member who loved flowers.
The members, including Karey and David Gonzalez created a special memorial for Donna.
I did not know Donna, but reading some of the comments left on her online obituary and what friends have said, she sounded like an amazing woman.
Anyone who has a chance should visit the center, they are doing some great things for Reedley and the sur- rounding communities.
“She was one of our mem- bers and we just thought it would be nice to pay tribute to her because she was such a sweet lady,” said Olson.
“She loved flowers, she’d go around and ask me if I had flowers in my yard, or ask others if they had flowers and she’d take flowers to people who were not feeling well.”
Lee died in late August of 2019 from cancer.
According to her obitu- ary, Donna grew up in Avenal then moved to Fresno before eventually settling down in Reedley.
Photo Contributed
Donna Lee posed for a photo at the Community Life Garden on Oct. 27, 2018. She was recognized that day for the volunteer hours she dedicated to the center. Lee died less than one year later in August 2019 from cancer.
"She loved flowers, she'd take flowers to people who were not feeling well."
- Karey Olson Community Life Garden
Photo Courtesy / The Parlier Police Department Facebook
Parlier City officials including the mayor, Alma Beltran (photographed in center with scissors) cel- ebrated the opening of Parlier's newest restaurant. The Starbucks ribbon cutting ceremony was held on June 15, the coffee shop is located on Manning Avenue near Mendocino.
She worked as a bank man- ager and then worked a vari- ety of roles at Fresno City Col- lege and the Reedley College Bookstore before her retire- ment.
She has a large family in- cluding a twin sister named
Lonna.
And, according to Olson,
Donna was loved by many people close to her.
“So we dedicated this to her, this is her box and it’s the only one growing just flowers
See GARDEN on page A8
City of Parlier celebrates opening of new Starbucks
Staff Report
The city of Parlier cel- ebrated the opening of their latest restaurant on the morn- ing of June 15.
Dignitaries and employ- ees of the Starbucks located on Manning and Mendocino had a ribbon cutting ceremo- ny celebrating the milestone.
In a statement on their Facebook page, the Parlier Police Department invited residents to the new location to enjoy some coffee.
"This morning the Parlier Starbucks has their grand opening! We welcome them to our community and invite you to come and have a great cup of coffee or an ice cold treat in our community," the statement read in part.
'On the map' where in Sanger was this photo taken?
Photo of the week
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
A calm stream flows near some greenery, and some flowers. A fence can be seen in the background, this location is in Sanger, can you guess where? Answer in next week's Mid Valley Times.
Contributed
A photo of 18-month-old, Catherine Summers smiling in front of Reedley's downtowm mural was sent in by her parents, Curtis and Amanda Summers. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing.com.