The health of the San Carlos Community Garden (SCCG) is due in large to its community, volunteers, leadership team and board members.

Among their dedicated community members is Founding Member and Board Chair Carol Lockwood (pictured above left with Gayle Mills and Steve Vadez). Since the SCCG’s founding in 2012, Lockwood has been instrumental in the organization and development of volunteers, their project ideas and the harmony of the garden.

After maintaining her position for over a decade, Lockwood recently announced her retirement as board chair.

Prior to leading the SCCG, Lockwood worked with numerous volunteer and community outreach programs. After moving to San Diego in 1960 with her husband Wayne, Lockwood began working in the publisher’s office of the San Diego Union-Tribune. She later served as the executive director for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of San Diego and Inland Empire and Membership Director of San Carlos United Methodist Church.

“It’s always been very satisfying for me to look at a project that needs to be done and find the person who’s particularly qualified to do it and help that person be successful,” Lockwood said.

She has continued such efforts as board chair with the SCCG.

“I worked directly with the community, found people who wanted to volunteer and utilize their special talents, taking in their great ideas and matching that with the areas of need in the garden,” Lockwood commented. “It’s great for the garden because a lot gets done.”

Lockwood is also responsible for the SCCG’s recognition as a non-profit organization.

“The process of becoming a non-profit took over a year to get all of the information that the State requires,” Lockwood stated. “I think it’s exciting, it lends us a degree of authority and professional standing.”

Since then, Lockwood has completed an extensive list of projects in the garden — including her leadership and involvement with Eagle Scout Troop 959 and their 15 completed projects.

“It’s been a privilege for me to learn more about and connect with each of the Eagle Scouts in Troop 959,” Lockwood said. “It’s been so great working with each individual scout. In developing whatever project they choose, they learn to plan, work with people to develop their ideas, learn about fundraising and they grow in such significant ways.”

Life Scout Josh Brookens is currently working on his Eagle Scout project with Lockwood for the SCCG.

“The project is an outdoor chime structure with seven chimes that follow the C major pentatonic scale with an additional octave of G and A,” Brookens said. “I hope this chime set will encourage a love and interest in creating music in the next generation of children that visit the community garden.” The project is expected to be completed in January 2024.

SCCG amphitheater great setting as outdoor classroom and more

Lockwood has also been instrumental in the development of the SCCG amphitheater’s shade tree.

“One of the Garden’s more unique features is the amphitheater, a structure that our landscape architect, George Mercer, suggested in response to ideas originally suggested by our school site partner, the Sierra School of San Diego,” said Lockwood. “The amphitheater is great to use as an outdoor classroom for Siera’s students, and for many of our Garden programs and group meetings, but its exposure to the sun makes it difficult to use,” Lockwood commented. “Our landscape architect suggested ‘why don’t you plant a shade tree?’ I pressed forward with that idea and we got one planted earlier this year; a beautiful Jacaranda tree that was donated by the San Carlos Methodist Church and installed by BrightView Landscape.”

“It’s quite impressive how much the SCCG has accomplished over the years,” said Mercer. “I’ve been involved with the development of many community gardens over the years; of these, the San Carlos Community Garden has been particularly successful. I attribute this in large part to Carol’s leadership and the Board’s commitment to stay true to the masterplan we developed over ten years ago, striving for excellence at every stage of its implementation.”

SCCG Volunteer Susanne Brookens, who has also worked with Lockwood on the Community Outreach Committee for the San Carlos Methodist Church for nearly 12 years, shared that Lockwood is “a woman of action. She is not satisfied with just doing things the way they’ve always been done. She is not just an asset to the San Carlos Community Garden but to all the many organizations that she actively supports.”

Additionally, Lockwood helped develop the garden’s 50-foot-long native plant garden, succulent garden and plant signage. When not organizing and contributing to the ideas of others, Lockwood spends time tending to her own plot.

“Being in the garden, pretty much every day through COVID, is really what got me through the pandemic. The garden is a really inspiring place, it really saved me.”

For Lockwood, nurturing a community park-like area that everyone can enjoy and contribute to has been her overarching mission, which many feel she’s contributed to.

“Carol is a natural leader,” commented the SCCG’s Resource Manager, Jeanne Bauer. “She has a knack for getting people involved in the garden whether as gardeners or as volunteers.”

The aforementioned events and achievements are but a small glimpse into the legacy and contributions of SCCG Board Chair Carol Lockwood.

Although she is relinquishing her official title as board chair, Lockwood plans to be just as active on the leadership team and will continue assisting in events and volunteer opportunities.

It is her accomplishments and dedication that have cultivated the garden’s community.