We had so much fun picnicking on April 25th with the GPC community! Friends of all ages, including canine ones, from Santa Monica, Mar Vista, Venice, and beyond gathered in Clover Park for yummy food, education about pollinator plants, dog photography, face painting, coloring, and other picnic-style play.
Many of our GPC organizational partners attended and tabled, along with current and former local political leaders including SMC College Board Trustee Sion Roy, Mayor Caroline Torosis, Former Mayor and current Councilmember Lana Negrete, Councilmember Dan Hall, Former Mayor Phil Brock, Former Mayor Mike Feinstein and Sierra Club President David Haake.
Special thanks to Friends of Sunset Park, John Reynolds, Heather Thomason, Jon Katz, Michelle Grant, and the Santa Monica Democratic Club who helped us figure out how to throw a great picnic!
Many thanks also to the Santa Monica Business Park for providing free parking for attendees.
And we are so grateful for the many volunteers who helped us make this day special!
Thank you to our GPC partners!
We want to recognize and thank our friends and partner organizations who tabled, brought informational and educational materials and pollinator plants, and provided fun activities for the kids – Santa Monica Baseball/Softball Academy, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, Autobahn Soccer Club, Kuruvungna Village Springs, TreePeople, the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica, Airport 2 Park, Friends of Sunset Park, the Sierra Club, Santa Monica-Malibu Council of PTAs, Ocean View Farms, the UC Master Gardeners Program, Grow Wild Regenerative Initiatives of the Cayton Children’s Museum, and Santa Monica Community Gardens.
Thank you to our volunteers and supporters!
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our picnic Co-Chairs, GPC Board Members Patti Braun and Cris Gutierrez, logistics chair John Reynolds, activities consultant Heather Thomason, Master of Ceremonies Robb Brown, sound system technician Michael Cladis, and the following volunteers and supporters – we could not have done this without you!
- Roger Allen
- Michael Cladis
- Blanca Gonzalez
- Erika Bell
- Neelah Bell
- Cindy Bendat
- Justin Braun
- Michael Brodsky
- Robb Brown
- Neil Carrey
- Sarah Caso
- Michael Cladis
- Maya Dondonyan
- Christine Ecklund
- Vivien Flitton
- Blanca Gonzalez
- Michelle Grant
- David Haake
- Les Hairrell
- Dustin Hermann
- Chuck Hoover
- Barbara Inatsugu
- Sanjeev Jain
- Susan Jain
- Zina Josephs
- Jon Katz
- Nancy Kless
- Cathy Larson
- Jeanne Laurie
- Griffin Lowe
- Jim Lowe
- Bunny Lua
- Bruce Malarky
- Brett Morrow (and his pizzas!)
- Jose Palomares
- Tina Tan Pertel
- Bob Ramirez
- Mary Renaker
- Sylvie Rokab
- Jerry Rubin
- Megan Rustad
- John Reynolds
- Louisa Reynolds
- Sarah Reynolds
- Maria Rodriguez
- Sylvie Rokab
- Cynthia Rose
- Jerry Rubin
- Megan Rustad
- Santa Monica Business Park
- Santa Monica Democratic Club
- Jackie Smith
- Wes Terry
- Heather Thomason
- Paola Vezzulli
Wishing you all a great month ahead – we’ll keep you posted on whatever comes next in this journey-to-Great Park. And for now, we’ll be meditating on and feeling grateful for how Team Work Makes the Dream Work – thank you!
