INTHECOURTYARDOFACOMM WENATCHEE, WASH NGTON IS INFULL SWING.
ASHINGI N
eighbors are gathered around a long banquet table covered with a plastic tablecloth and crowded with platters of chimichangas and taco salad. The conversation’s flowing. Misael Fajardo-Perez, a young Lutheran min- ister and volunteer with The Trust for Public Land, is chatting with Angelica Figueroa and her daughter Olga—asking how they’d improve the playground at Kiwanis-Methow Park.
The park has its limitations, explains Angelica. Her kids love the wading pool—especially during north-central Washington’s hot, dry summers—but it’s closed on weekends. The play structure is too close to the street to be unfenced, adds Olga; it feels unsafe. And there’s just not enough fun stuff to do.
IN THECOURTYARDOF ACOMMUNITY CENTERIN WENATCHEE,
At an adjacent craft table, a father and daughter are painting decorative flowers that The Trust for Public Land will use to adorn the park site during its upcoming renovation. They’re cut in the shape of balsamroot blossoms, wildflowers that blanket the Wenatchee foothills each spring. As the girl swirls a paintbrush in a bucket of water, her dad throws in a little art education: “Look at this,” he says, dipping his own brush into blue and yellow paint. “If you mix these together, you’ll get green!” Gatherings like this one—humble as they are—could form the foundation of a new community of conservationists. The neighbors discussing their local park today over potluck dishes are the voters who’ll weigh critical open-space
TON,THEFIESTA EN EL JARDIN
funding measures at the polls. Their children, listening in as they dream of their new park, are the community organizers of tomorrow.
“This park renovation is exciting, for me and for my family,” says Angelica Figueroa. “I like that it’s strengthening my ties with my neighbors. When the new park opens, I hope it’s a place we can get to know each other even better.” A lot can come of getting to know your neighbors—and The Trust for Public Land is banking on it. In a time of rapid and contentious change here in the Wenatchee Valley and across the West, the simple act of bringing the community to the table may have the power to shape the landscape for generations to come.
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