"We would like to acknowledge all of the folks who come out year after year to clean the storm drains, pick up the litter and maintain the plant beds in all of our parks and street medians," says Anne Woodell, a stalwart parks volunteer of more than 40 years.

Woodell recalls "learning at the knee" of the legendary William Penn Mott when, as a young wife and mother, she first moved to Oakland in the late'50s.

"Mr. Mott was definitely a mentor to me, as he was to so many others," says Woodell. "At the time, he was with the East Bay Regional Parks District, but he had already made his mark with Oakland parks — with Children's Fairyland and the Woodminster Cascades — just to name a few of his innovative projects."

Mott would go on to head the State Park Foundation and was later appointed chief of the National Parks Service by President Ronald Reagan.

"Speaking of innovative projects, we have Mr. Mott to thank for our wonderful garden center. In the mid-1950's, he worked to persuade all the local garden clubs to contribute money to construct the center."

The project was sponsored by the East Bay Council of Garden Clubs to "provide a focal point for horticultural interest in the area," say local history files. Locally prominent architect Keith Ponsford drew up the plans for a contemporary building that would house a landscaping library, meeting rooms and exhibit spaces for the garden clubs. The center opened in 1959.

A few years later, the center was expanded when members of the Ebell Club (a woman's organization formed in the 1880s) contributed an additional $100,000 to add an auditorium space.

A fire destroyed the Ebell's historic clubhouse on Harrison Street, say the files, and the ladies decided that, rather than rebuild it with insurance proceeds, they would donate the funds to the city and the garden center.

It is safe to say few could anticipate how the garden center would be called into service as an alternate city hall in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, says Woodell. "For several years afterwards, all of the City Council meetings were held at the garden center, in addition to all the other ongoing educational programs, workshops and plant sales."

The building was pressed into service because downtown's earthquake-damaged City Hall had to be closed for renovations.

"In 1988, the council decided that in order to have the park facility help pay for itself, it would be made available for special event rentals and weddings," says Woodell. "The garden clubs still have priority though."

Woodell, board member of Lakeside Garden Center Inc., is active with a host of other organizations, including the Friends of Parks and Rec, the Oakland Parks Coalition, and the Alameda County Historical Society. She can often be found at the Friends' office in the center's former library.

Woodell spearheads the annual Mother of the Year event in the Morcom Rose Garden and helps raise funds and promote the summer band concerts. "I also have a special place in my heart for Joaquin Miller Park," she says, "and I am proud that in the spirit of William Penn Mott, we were able to restore the Woodminster Cascades."

"Anne Woodell is truly amazing," says Barbara Schaaf, a long time volunteer (most recently with the "Keep Oakland Beautiful" daffodil planting project). "Anne is a heads-on leader who isn't adverse to the drudgery work all volunteer organizations must take on. She has been involved with many projects over the years, and her continued energy is an inspiration to the rest of us."

In the spring, Woodell is heading to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress as head of the California Parks and Recreation Society's legislative committee. She promises to put in a good word for Oakland's parks while there.

City Administrator Deborah Edgerly will be the featured speaker at the Feb. 1 event, which gets under way at 5 p.m. The garden center (now officially known as the Marsha J. Corprew Center, for another long-time community leader who died a few years ago) is at 666 Bellevue Ave.

To learn more about how to become involved with volunteer efforts in Oakland, go to http://www.oaklandpw.com, the site for the Public Works Agency, or http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks, for the city's Parks and Recreation Division. The number to call to volunteer for "Keep Oakland Beautiful" is 434-5113.

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