By TATYANNA CABRAL
On Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013 the city of Malden opened its first community garden. It was built next to the bike trail right behind Mystic Valley Regional Charter School,on Railroad Avenue. To celebrate the opening there was a ribbon cutting and garden party hosted by Ward 5 City Councilor,Barbara Walsh Murphy. Also in attendance was Clay Larsen, the project manager, Ward 5 School Committee Member, Adam Weldai, Ward 1 School Committee Member Jennyfer Cabral, Debbie DeMaria Ward 3 School Committee Member State Representative Chris Fallon, Ward 6 School Committee Member, Stephen Winslow, and Mayor Gary Christenson. Students from the Teen Center were there too to help set up. One of the students, Annie Woolley said, “it was pretty fun, [she] got to meet a lot of the staff” and people who helped out. She is willing to help to create more gardens around Malden.
The party had started off with a poetry reading by, C.D. Collins, followed by the ribbon cutting. The residents then got to step into the garden and get a tour. Weldai had explained that, “this started out as a small idea two years ago and through the hard work of government officials and of the residents, together they made it a reality.” Many of the Malden High School students had also been a part of making this a reality.Now more and more people are hoping that this will not be the only community garden in Malden. Mayor Christenson says, “to be able to have these things in Malden is a really good sign that the city is on the right track.”
After the tour, visitors were offered fresh salad that was grown from the community garden, accompanied by a splash of DD’S salad dressing, made by DeMaria, a nice way to top off the evening. This garden will not only be to grow vegetables, but to get to know your neighbors, or meet new people. Murphy is “looking forward to see everything down [there] digging in the dirt next spring and watching the crops grow.” Leaving the residents eager to see the next move which is to see more gardens in the city.
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