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VISTA: Garden organizers asks kids for help with name
By STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer VISTA ---- Organizers of the Alta Vista Gardens in Brengle Terrace Park are asking children to help name and design a portion of the park that will be set aside especially for them.
"Instead of having us as board members and committee members try to name it, it's kind of a neat thing to do ---- let the kids' imaginations work," said Todd Cure, a landscape architect and president of the garden's board of directors.
The board's plan is to eventually install a collection of themed gardens on 13 acres of city-owned land at the top of a hill in the 85-acre park.
So far, welcome gardens have been built and work is almost done on a portion of the land featuring jungle vegetation and an observation deck. The children's garden is expected to be the next part finished.
The garden's board of directors has a preliminary plan for what they want to see in the half-acre that will eventually be the children's portion, including a teaching area, a play house and a sand box.
Now, they're hoping children in preschool through fifth grade will be able fill in between the lines by coming up with a name and ideas of other things they'd like to see built.
By getting the children involved in naming and designing the garden, Cure said he hopes to create something with which they can relate.
"It's created by the kids, for the kids," he said.
The garden will be a welcoming place, intended to pique children's curiosity about nature, said Nancy Jones, a retired teacher who's working to help organize the contest.
"It's going to be very intriguing for kids," she said.
Legoland California donated four tickets for the winning entry. Winners for each grade level will win tickets to Wave Waterpark in Vista.
Officials with Legoland California agreed to donate the tickets because they were excited about how the contest will encourage children to be creative and express themselves, said Beth Downing, a spokeswoman for the Carlsbad theme park.
"That is right up our alley," she said.
The contest is open to children from anywhere in the United States, as long as they're in elementary school or a 4-year-old in preschool. Entries are due by Feb. 26. Winners will be announced as part of the garden's Earth Day celebration April 25.
More information, entry forms and contest rules are available online at www.altavistagardens.org.
The overall plan for Alta Vista Gardens was approved by the Vista City Council in 2005. Cure said he hopes to have work start this spring and finished within the next couple of years, depending on funding.
The garden's board has set aside $5,000 to build an entry for the children's garden and to install a kite sculpture. Now, they're hoping to get money and materials donated to help finish the project.
Plans for a group of botanical gardens in Vista go back more than 35 years, though it wasn't until 1999 that a nonprofit group formed to oversee the project.
The gardens in the plan are divided into themes, including jungle, Japanese, Mediterranean, herb, prehistoric and arid. The plans also include a reception lawn, labyrinth, conservatory, education center and two man-made lakes.
Though the work has moved more slowly than organizers had hoped, Cure said he thinks that may change with the momentum the children's garden could build.
"Things are starting to roll now," he said.
Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.
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