It’s a foggy day at the Morro Bay traffic circle, and a handful of Morro Bay In Bloom volunteers arrived with gardening gloves in hand, ready to work.
Founder and president of Morro Bay in Bloom Walter Heath drives to a new location each week to facilitate an organized gardening plan out of his trailer of gardening tools. The organization relies on community volunteers to help improve public landscapes across Morro Bay.
Heath founded Morro Bay in Bloom in October 2013 with a handful of participants wanting to give back to the locals.
“We just celebrated our 12th anniversary, our first session was at the Morro Bay Library and we had 25 people show up at that time,” said Heath.
In Bloom volunteers have essential safety preparations when working on low visibility days, especially on the busy city streets. They slip on brightly colored reflective vests when they arrive, which Heath attributed to the growth of the organization. As people pass by their volunteer projects, it sparks interest and catches the eye of city locals.
Weeds are pulled and soil is poured, many asking the question as to why they spend their Saturday mornings with dirt-covered hands.
“We like for folks to have a sense of accomplishment after a two-hour session, so they will want to keep coming back, they feel like they are getting something done,” Heath said. “I really love plants, I love introducing some warm color into our cool colored environment especially on grey days the colors pop and it looks great for everybody to enjoy.”
Participants such as Diane Borgotti see social gardening as an outlet in their everyday lives.
“I saw Walter out here working one day and said, you know, hey, this looks like something I could do,” she said. “I’ll give that a try, because I’m retired, I can do whatever I want!”
In her time gardening with the organization, she says one planting project stood out among the rest. The group was handed paint brushes alongside young children, painting pots awaiting a floral arrangement. A moment that became an unexpected connection between generations.
“I liked the buckets,” Borgotti said. “I thought that was pretty cool to get the rest of the community involved, and sitting with the kids painting was just hilarious. I mean it was just great.”
One of the organization’s veteran volunteers Steve Lindsmeyer said the Morro Bay in Bloom community has become a family for him.
“Walter and I are like brothers,” he said. “I’ve been with Morro Bay in Bloom for 12 to 15 years.”
Along the way, Lindsmeyer found a passion for gardening and a satisfaction in planting something for others to enjoy.
“The plants are free beauty, you know, you get ’em going, and on they go, it’s pretty neat,” Lindsmeyer said.
The volunteers of Morro Bay in Bloom remain dedicated to the city’s plants and flowers with a goal to build community and enhance the look of city streets.