GARDENA — During the 50th anniversary of the Gardena Mayme Dear Library celebration on April 15, the Gardena Valley Friends of the Library recognized the contributions of the Gardena Valley Gardeners Association (GVGA).
In 1964, the GVGA donated close to 2,700 volunteer hours to create a Japanese garden for the library. Takuma Tono, an internationally renowned professor of landscape architecture at Tokyo Agriculture University, designed the garden, which includes a 150-year-old toro or stone lantern.
The 1964 GVGA garden committee included: President Kay Iizuka; General Chairman Frank Okada; Design Committee Chair Mas Nakano; Project Consultant Art Ishida; Assistant Project Consultants Haruo Yamashiro and Kenny Uyeda; Materials Committee Chair Ralph K. Ota; and Construction Committee Chair Nick Katsuki.
Pictured above (from left): Dennis Yamashiro, son of Haruo Yamashiro, with his mother Takako Yamashiro; Bill Nishimura, one of the few remaining original gardeners who worked on the 1964 project; George Kamiyo and Joe Watari.
Photo by MARTHA NAKAGAWA