This spring the TLNA
established the "Barbara Vedder Community Participation Award" to
honor the service of our former alderperson and to recognize an individual or
group for their efforts to improving access to civic and community life.
This summer Barbara, Carol
Weidel and I met to establish criteria for the award. A first mailing to
solicit nominations from elected officials coincided with the September 11
attack. Therefore, Barbara made the selection.
John Bell of 423 Sidney
Street has been chosen as the first recipient for his leadership role in
community gardening. He is 56, a veteran of the Navy and had a brief career as
a journalist. He moved to California where he met and married Dr. Lauren Bern.
Residents of Madison and the Tenney-Lapham area for more than twenty years,
they chose the area because of the comfort of an older neighborhood, to have
Tenney Park as their back yard and as a good place to raise a family. They have
four children. In his ninth year as a nursing assistant for the school district,
now at Sandburg, John credits his late father with sparking his interest in
gardening.
Over coffee I had the
opportunity to talk with John recently. He believes that the strength of this
and other neighborhoods rests on our diversity and a willingness to involve all
people and balance their needs. He feels that people have a responsibility to
their community and in Madison, if people are truly committed and work
together, they can educate and influence the public and policy makers to give
priority to this and other issues.
Despite the challenges of
high land values and perceived "higher use", John remains optimistic
for the future of community gardening in Madison. "It's the most popular
and fastest growing form of outdoor recreation and touches on our nutritional,
spiritual, economic and political well being." Chairman of the City of
Madison's Advisory Committee on Community Gardening, John emphasizes the
"connection" to neighborhood and place with the garden plots and
their positive role in community building. "I feel a stronger part of my
neighborhood and Madison by being involved."
-Richard
Linster