I don't know what I'll do.

I think I'll hand them to the I use it a lot, but I have the electrical.

Okay.

Will uh council please come to order?

And will the clerk please call the role?

Anderson present.

Bush?

Here.

Oliver.

Here.

Eager Smith.

Here.

It is my pleasure to open the meeting with a recognition for our town employees who won a Virginia Municipal League 2023 Innovation Award for Community Health, but also the Virginia Municipal League President's Award for Innovation for our community gardens program.

And so we'll begin with a presentation by staff.

Do you want to try to hold these while you do I feel so lucky to be able to brag a little bit tonight and celebrate our successes?

This is what I was saying to my kids last week about something that you know to take the moment to reflect on the good work that's happening in the community is lovely, and thank you all for taking the time to come and be with us.

So as the mayor said, we we uh won both awards at the VML this year, and I think that there really is a main reason of why, and that is partnership.

And so tonight I didn't want to just talk um and tell you what the program is, but why I think uh we won the award, because I think the lessons resonate beyond just even the community garden program, um, but for other initiatives that we undertake.

And really, I think the success of the community garden program um relates to community champions.

And um, we are lucky tonight to have Arlene here with us.

Um, and really she was the spark plug behind the community garden program in the town.

Um, she opened up her private land for community benefit and worked um with uh Jenny Schwanke, who at the time was with the Y to really support some gentle leadership behind the program and created this uh community-based culture and that creates connection in addition to the myriad of benefits at the Hale Garden.

And then also wanted to really recognize you, Susan, because um it really takes council leadership to and and to ask the questions of what more could we be doing for our community.

Um, and and you just even going to VML and and to a session on community gardens and asking what how can we get involved allowed us as town staff to implement on your vision.

Um so I think that is a core of the success of the program.

Look at this cool image, right?

The Hale Garden 70 garden plots, um, gardeners from over 17 nationalities.

And Arlene in her wisdom a few years back was really thinking about how to ensure the success of a community garden program in perpetuity and and turn to the town to provide that long-term support and leadership.

And although we as staff knew that it would be hard to provide ongoing management for the program, that we really wanted to find a way to see the program successful long term.

And so that is where Live Work Eat Grow came in, right?

A really a mission-aligned nonprofit organization, newer organization, but started with a strong nonprofit board that was willing to take the faith and put the energy into ongoing and day-to-day management of the garden program with also the support of Arlene and in establishing a long-term endowment for this work.

And that was critical to the success.

Dean and Parks and Rec really took has taken the time to identify sites on our public lands to provide new garden spots, and that's how we ended up with two new gardens at Wong Park and Garrison Park in Cedar Hill.

And then Housing and Community Connections and the Sustainability Offices have been providing some program development support.

And then of course, as a town, we've provided a variety of different funding sources to help establish the new garden programs and support the operations.

So it's that sort of teamwork that I think VML recognized in the award this year as being critical.

And all of that has resulted in community building, right?

It's not just the plots of land themselves and the ability to grow, but it's the community that's created through the act of uh of growing and and the capacity that Live Work Eat Grow has been able to bring in terms of the diverse programming.

They've been offering summer camps for kids, they've offered a variety of workshops on food, um, growing food, food preparation, uh maple uh syrup tapping, I mean you you name it yogas at the gardens, and all of that builds the community vitality that I remember sitting in your strategic planning workshop three years ago of what do you want to see?

And I think that this program is sort of emblematic of what you're trying to do in terms of community building, and so that has been really fun.

So, really the ingredients that we see to success is that long-term investment by uh by the founder by Arlene and the strong um live work staff, um, live work eat grow staff and board, our cross-departmental um commitment to the program, and really being um strategic with um some structured agreements that outline roles and responsibilities so we're so we're all clear and and we've created a community that way.

And so um building upon our success, we're about to embark together on two new community garden sites, um and uh one of them will be in the lower heritage um near the lower heritage parking lot, um, will be the next location, and we hope that that will serve as sort of a destination garden similar to Hale.

A lot of people love going out there, not just because they live close by, but because they enjoy the environment that that space provides.

And then we're hoping um that uh later in the year there there will be another location somewhere in Heathwood, um, and that will probably be more like a neighborhood garden similar to Wong Park and the Garrison Garden.

And so with that, um I just want to recognize everybody and and let you know how thankful I am for all of you in our partnership together for this program.

Thank you.

And so I think that we wanted to try and get a picture of everyone together with the mayor and um and chip was gonna take the photo.

I think we were gonna try and gather these, but somebody has to be able to hold they're heavy.

Okay.

Chip, do you want us here?

Oh, everybody goes.

You want to put in place?

Come on.

Arlene, Arlene.

Yeah.

I know there's no joke.

This is the most logistical challenge.

In the middle, just in front of the disposition, how are you standing in the middle there already?

This is as bad as when there was a substitute motion.

Okay, true.