What Can You Do On a Saturday Night in Woodlake?

Woodlake Chamber Member “Woodlake Pride”

#blogboost #Woodlake Chamber

Gayla Event Scheduled

Mark your calendars for October 8th for an entertaining Woodlake Pride evening at the Woodlake Botanical Gardens. Starting at 4:00 pm.

That sounds fun!

Woodlake is a foothill town of about 7,000 nestled in the center a circle of foothills on the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Bravo Lake occupies a large chunk of the heart of the town. In 1912 when Gilbert Stevenson purchased the acres to build the city, he envisioned a beautiful tourist town.  BUT Stevenson built a levee around the town’s primary landmark, obscuring it from view.

Whaaaa?? Was he shortsighted or something?

Maybe, but Olga and Manuel Jimenez had some great ideas to beautify the levees.

And the City of Woodlake agreed to it?

You bet. They bought the land.

What do you do with a big lake no one can see?

Worse than that, the area around it was vacant or worse – a weed haven. Manuel and Olga Jimenez change blight into bright and created Woodlake Pride, a service organization to perpetuate the beautiful park setting they created.

A student narrates the story of Manuel Jimenez’s vision for a student community service organization which he called Woodlake Pride in the video Woodlake Pride’s Wonderful World.

The real plan that Olga had was to “grow kids by planting gardens.” They started planting gardens in 1989, but eventually the city purchased 13 acres to turn into the beautiful gardens that we see today. The 1,700 rose bushes alone make this a wonderful world.

“It’s not like Disneyland,” Manuel Jimenez states.

Although it does not feature the number of varieties of roses found in famous gardens like the Boston Rose Garden, everyone marvels at the many varieties of plant life the Woodlake Botanical Garden on the way to the Sequoia National Park. It has become a major draw for sight-seeing.

It is that inspiring tale of what one person, or in this case a couple, can do in a community if they put their heart and soul into it.

“The legacy I want to leave Woodlake is just the beauty. It’s amazing what a seed can produce,” Olga shared.

A Tulare County Treasures Project.

What a beautiful world Manuel and Olga Jimenez created.

So if you want a ticket for the Woodlake Pride dinner, see Rudy Garcia at the Valley Business Bank.

For more information about Woodlake Botanical Garden click here.

See you on Saturday night.

Related articles about Woodlake Botanical Gardens:

• The Essence of Summer
• Go Vibrant for Valentine’s Day
• Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge of Pink or Magenta Flowers
• Where to Find Color for a Photo Challenge Like an Expert