Anonymous
Source: City of Santa Barbara
The Garden Club of Santa Barbara and the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department will celebrate the planting of five olive trees at Mission Historical Park. This planting commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first olive trees planted by the Garden Club in 1919 to honor those who gave their lives in World War I.
“This planting is a wonderful way to enhance the olive grove,” said Jill Zachary, Parks and Recreation Director. “Mission Historical Park’s rich history is something we honor, and we hope locals and visitors will enjoy learning about the grove and the park itself.”
“The Garden Club of Santa Barbara is looking forward to celebrating this Veteran’s Day marking the 100th anniversary of the 1919 planting, upholding the club’s long standing tradition of civic involvement and historic preservation,” said Susanne Tobey, Conservation Chair of the Garden Club of Santa Barbara.
Mission Historical Park, a 10.5-acre state and local historic landmark, contains many points of interest, as it was once part of the lands attached to the Santa Barbara Mission. The Franciscan Fathers sold a portion of the park to the City of Santa Barbara in 1928, while the remainder of the park was donated by the Franciscans in 1948.
The lower portion of the park, directly across from the Mission, contains the A. C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden with over 1,500 rose bushes. The upper portion, beyond the lawn area, contains walking trails and the ruins of Mission water systems, including a reservoir that was part of the municipal water system until the mid-1980s. The original olive trees in this area were planted in 1891.
In addition to the five olive trees, the Garden Club also funded a new interpretive sign, which will be installed in the coming weeks near the intersection of East Los Olivos Street and Alameda Padre Serra. The sign will serve as a useful guide to park visitors, denoting ruined structures and their original uses, and providing a brief history of the olive grove. The Parks and Recreation Department relocated the original plaque commemorating the 1919 planting so it can be easily seen when visiting the grove.
In collaboration with the City of Santa Barbara and the Garden Club of Santa Barbara, Karl Hutterer, Jones Land Use Planning, Don Olson, Jaime Pierce, Kim True, and Waters Land Surveying, Inc. contributed to this project.
Public Event
The public is invited to attend a celebratory event to mark the completion of the planting project. Please join the Garden Club of Santa Barbara at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, November 18 in Mission Historical Park near the intersection of East Los Olivos Street and Alameda Padre Serra.
About the Garden Club of Santa Barbara
Founded in 1916, the Garden Club of Santa Barbara is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to encouraging the knowledge and enjoyment of gardening, the art of flower design, the protection of the environment and native plants, the preservation of the historic and horticultural richness of the community, and the active support of civic projects. The Garden Club of Santa Barbara has been a member of the Garden Club of America since 1918. For more information, please visit their website at gardenclubofsantabarbara.org.
About the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department
The City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department proudly maintains a wide range of parks, facilities, and programs designed to serve the needs of the community.
The mission of the department is to provide clean and safe parks, beaches, and recreation facilities; to enhance Santa Barbara’s beauty; to promote stewardship of resources; and to provide quality recreation and cultural experiences and community services to improve the quality of life for Santa Barbara residents.
To find out more about the Parks and Recreation Department, please visit the City of Santa Barbara website atSantaBarbaraCA.gov/ParksAndRec
This is wonderful news. Now, if Jill Zachary and the Parks & Rec Department would cease its use of pesticides (Roundup) in this upper park area—–in particular, I mean the spraying done around the historic ruins and walls, and also cease using pesticides in the Rose Garden, that would be very happy news indeed.
YES! No more pesticides and poison, please!!! Let’s be like Malibu and become a poison-free city!