A large group of volunteers showed up to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on Aug. 9 to help bring the Paddy Smith Park back to life.
Tucked between the JJ Crosetti and the Fire Arts buildings, the sprawling garden space once featured a majestic river stone waterfall, flowering plants and level lawn that served as a quiet respite area at the fairgrounds.
“Over the years it has changed and today we are here to bring it back to its original glory with native plants and the care it deserves,” said Ron Haedicke, Marketing Director for the Fairgrounds Foundation.
The park gained its name from Paddy Smith, a film actress who teamed up with John Kegebein, who is currently the volunteer CEO at the Agricultural History Project, and others in the mid-1970s to fulfill her wish to make the garden look like the San Lorenzo Valley, where she then lived.
