On the relatively cool and overcast August 2 in North Long Beach, “Team Hermoso” from the Neighborhood Leadership Program and the Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association joined forces in the planting of parkway trees throughout the Coolidge area. Some 21 small parkway trees were planted in the areas from Barclay to Bort.
Also assisting were Jim Osgood, Margaret Madden, Suzan Simaan, Francisco Rodriguez, and Lydia Calvillo from the Neighborhood Resource Center and Neighborhood Services. A small training class was conducted on site by one of the city’s arborists.
Dave San Jose’s youth group “Bikes 90800” and Deforest Neighborhood Association President Barbara Bolin were also on hand to plant trees on Forhan Street.
Approximately 30 to 40 community volunteers were in attendance for the event.
Ninth District Councilman Val Lerch opened the event at 8 a.m. with a few encouraging words regarding his experience when he was in the Neighborhood Leadership Program in the 1990s, and he expressed his gratitude for the teamwork and coordination for the morning’s event.
This was the third event in the series of four teams who wrote different themed grants representing public safety, two for different types of beautification and the third representing healthy living in the area.
The final event will be an unveiling of two murals designed for elementary school children and will take place at 10 a.m. at the South Street Parkway with refreshments to follow.
The unveiling represents the final project for the Neighborhood Leadership Class of 2008 that will be graduating on August 23.
For questions regarding the projects or the Neighborhood Leadership Program contact the Neighborhood Resource Center at (562) 570-1010.
