Community

Here’s to a new year in the garden. I'm already starting to make journal entries for January.

From supplying water pump bicycles to undeveloped countries to empowering impoverished women and orphans, Bob Pagett, the founding president of Scotts Valley-based Assist International, learned about giving at an early age.

Each year I wait for them in my garden and so do the robins, varied thrush, jays, spotted towhees, grosbeaks and band-tailed pigeons. The fruit of sambucus mexicana, a California native plant, is relished by an incredible number of songbirds. The creamy flower clusters in the spring are a favorite of bees and other beneficial insects. My Western Elderberry grows tall and gangly in the shade of a California bay tree, shorter and more compact in the sun. Their exuberance for life makes me happy just to watch them provide for so many other species.

By the time Councilmember Allan Timms got to the Light Up the Night tree-lighting and performance art spectacle around 5pm on Dec. 7, it was already packed. “It’s really nice to see so many people and kids,” he said. “It’s a very Scotts Valley event.” You...